IFFI, but still fun

FREEZE FRAME

Every winter, India hosts a number of film festivals including ones in Kolkata, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram and, of course, the IFFI for the last two years in Goa.

For some strange reason, the festivals generate more controversy than camaraderie. This year was no exception. One of the main culprits is the media. Most journalists reporting on such festivals are ill-informed twits who have now been joined by young and pretty mike-toting twerps from an assortment of TV channels.

Hungry for a controversy, they will help create one when none exists. The critics are caught in some time warp of good cinema and didactic. Let's get some things in the right perspective.

There are about 4000 film festivals held every year around the world and about a dozen of these like Cannes, Venice and Berlin really matter. This does not take away the spirit behind other festivals like Pusan or Montreal, Tokyo or even Cairo. Given the fact that we have a robust domestic industry, there is an inherent insularity in our traditional movie industry.

Therefore, in spite of a brave and welcome effort by event managers WIZCRAFT to get the local Industry involved in IFFI, there is a callous indifference to it. On the other hand, the last relics of parallel cinema are upset about what they see as a takeover of their traditional territory. Come on guys, we are talking about cinema and not the Sarsiaka tigers!

Then there is the perennial question of a film market. Well, the fact is that, except for Cannes no major festival has actually a market of any importance. Lots of people including the media keep harping about lack of deal-making during Indian festivals.

Well, does any deal-making happen at the Cannes Lions or even at Davis, or the countless industry-events that are held around the world? It is time we learn to accept that this is what a film festival is all about -- fun, festivity and films.

Goa over the years can actually become a favoured destination for showcasing movies from around the world. The government should gradually fade out and hand over the event to professional organisers and local filmmakers must begin to take an active part.

Another interesting factor, which clearly emerged in Goa, is the polarisation of the has-beens and the new emerging order of showbiz. So a bunch of fuddy-duddies from the Film Federation of India went about complaining that the authorities were ignoring them.

It is time the government too recognises that there are new stakeholders in this business. An archaic institution, functioning on outdated regional lines, cannot take our cinema to global standards.

Obviously the people who matter will attract attention, and nothing can keep a good film or a genuine talent away from public acclaim. Did it make any difference to the greatness of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, G Arvindan, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and many others that they made their films in languages other than Hindi?

What is heartening amidst all this is that there is certain vibrancy in Indian cinema today. The advent of multiplexes, satellite TV and corporatisation heralds a lot more room for alternative cinema.

Some veteran filmmakers like Shyam Benegal, Gautam Ghose, Mani Ratnam and Ketan Mehta are tapping these new resources. What is important is to celebrate cinema in all its forms and on every occasion.

That's what will make our film festivals work!

The author is chairman of Reliance Entertainment and the views expressed are his own