IFFI bloomer annoys Kannada film-makers

The 37th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that took off amidst a lot of chaos again landed in soup.

Now, the Kannada film industry is angry with the state-owned Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) for a bloomer in the brochure.

ESG, the nodal agency for hosting the IFFI, published the photograph of renowned Kannada director, Girish Kasaravalli, instead of that of superstar, the late Rajkumar, in the homage section.

Though, the index correctly mentioned Rajkumar and his 1972 film Bangarada Manushya, scheduled to be screened in the homage section.

The organisers were seen busy at the eleventh hour in covering up their mistake.

An apology letter issued by Nandini Paliwal, chief executive officer of the ESG, says, "Due to an inadvertent mistake, Girish Kasaravalli's photograph has appeared in place of the veteran Kannada superstar in the homage section (page 153) of the IFFI 2006 festival brochure. The error is deeply regretted and we apologise for the same."

The brochure was edited by Ethel da Costa, PRO of the ESG, as well as the publisher.

The incident is likely to further the bitterness among the Kannada film-makers, who have been condemning the IFFI official video as nothing but a Bollywood mouthpiece and neglects the regional cinema.