Let’s first get a couple things clear — I’m all for IFFI in Goa, provided it’s done properly and projected in a nice way. And, I’m not an expert on film festivals, the only other festivals that I’ve been to are MAMI and the small festivals in Mumbai. But, I do know how things can be done and what makes sense. IFFI 2006 doesn’t make sense to me at all.
Let’s recap! The inaugural ceremony was tailor-made for Bollywood and for TV viewing. There was nothing about Goa there. The official song lauds Indian cinema and I ask myself and everyone else, isn’t this supposed to be a festival of International films?
Throughout the last few days, I’ve been doing the rounds of Kala Academy and Inox, only to see Bollywood stars walk in amidst media frenzy, some of them aren’t even here to promote a film. Some of the foreign directors and cast and crew have been ignored or given third-rate treatment. What kind of nonsense is this? What are the DFF and ESG thinking? Don’t they know that these people are coming down for the festival? A producer of a Marathi film created a hue and cry about the fact that his director and cast weren’t given a platform before the screening of their movie. Why wasn’t someone informed of their arrival? And why has a company that puts together conferences and other small events in Delhi given the opportunity to manage IFFI this year?
The first year, 360 degrees did a good job, so did Wizcraft the following year. Why give it to a different event team each year. Doesn’t anyone realise the advantages of having one person do it for three or five years at a stretch? Do you even know what that can be like, from so many different aspects, including sponsorship? Is there any criteria when it comes to lobbying for the festival? Do you just have to be in the business or do you have to have years of doing large-scale events, major concerts and more, to qualify? Now, doing a brilliant job has taken on a whole new meaning. In fact, the next time someone tells me I was brilliant at something, I might just cringe in fear. Brilliant Entertainment Network has been anything but brilliant, in fact, I can’t imagine how an incompetent group of individuals can have the gall to call themselves event managers. From the gaudy cheap décor on the streets and the Inox courtyard to the not-so-International events at Caranzalem, it’s all a whole big mess. And the head of Brilliant even had the audacity to claim that the whole Konkani concert was a printing mistake? What an excellent excuse, or should we say a brilliant excuse? They have a haphazard way of doing things and most of the press that they favour has been national media, obviously since they’re not from here. It seems that everybody has vested interests. Is there anyone who loves films and is doing something at the festival?
Getting back to the festival, the country focus is on Argentina, which is a good thing for Latin American cinema. But, where is the Argentinean contingent? They’re here; we met one of the directors and interviewed her. No one else even knew that she was around. There has been a parade of Bollywood stars and starlets, whom we see and hear about all the time. Why is it so important for the press to meet them and not the people who have genuinely come here to promote a film that they spent time making and that they took pains to finish?
Goa is a great place for IFFI but we do need to stop this nonsense and concentrate on what it really is — A film festival. IFFI is not about Sonu Nigam, Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, Kunal Ganjawala or the others that get on stage and wax eloquent on how they love Goa. Bosh and more bosh! Goa is a great venue, it’s got international acclaim, it’s got an international feel and most importantly, it has the infrastructure. But, none of this has been exploited. Why can’t some of the festival movies be shown on the beaches, instead of Lage Raho Munnabhai and Rang de Basanti. We’re even screening Krissh today. Yes, Krrish! Show some of the regional films instead, even if you can’t screen a Volver. The government needs to realise that everything can’t be turned into a political gimmick. At the end of the day, if IFFI goes away from Goa, the government won’t be blamed, Goa will.
The ESG should have a committee of people who have worked in the entertainment industry, who know how things can be done, who can not only give it an international flavour but a Goan flavour as well. The answer is not in holding it at the convention centre so that you can get more seats, it’s about crowd control, and it’s about quality. One thing’s for sure; the movies at the festival are perhaps the only saving grace of IFFI 2006.
I was standing close to J P Singh, the Chief Secretary of Goa, when he wondering out loud, why IFFI was getting so much bad press. Well, here’s your answer. Don’t make it an over-hyped Bollywood mela, let it be what it is — the International Film Festival of India. Put it there on an international level, get the international directors and actors down, and give them their due. And for crying out loud, send Brilliant back to Delhi and make them start doing birthday parties, they’ll learn a lot. Perhaps in ten years time, we might think about giving them a second chance. Then again…
November 30, Gomantak Times, Goa
