Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Friday set the ball formally rolling for the 17th edition of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) 2012 before a packed audience at Nishagandhi open air auditorium here by promising a festival complex for the capital city in the near future.
“We have identified a location for the purpose. But there is some procedural delay as the site was originally chosen for some other purpose seven years ago. Hence, it will take some more time for the official announcement,’’ the Chief Minister said, after inaugurating the IFFK 2012.
Chandy was, in fact, responding to a demand raised by Forests and Cinema Minister K B Ganesh Kumar, actor Mohanlal, who was chief guest on the occasion, and Kerala State Chalachitra Academy chairman S Priyadarshan.
The opening ceremony of the 17th edition provided a totally different experience to Ganesh Kumar, who was booed by the crowd at the closing ceremony of the 2011 edition. This time, the audience received him with applause. ‘’I am standing before you as the most happiest person because I could fulfil my last year’s promise of four renovated theatres in operation before the commencement of the IFFK,’’ he said.
Mohanlal made a special request to the Chief Minister, comparing him to a god who doled out boons. ‘’I have the same request as Ganesh and Priyadarshan that a festival complex should be granted. I consider it as another boon as he (Chandy) had granted me one this afternoon,’’ Mohanlal said, referring to the Chief Minister’s approval of his request that a movie camera used for his first film be given to him. Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development Shashi Tharoor, MLAs K Muraleedharan, V Sivankutty, Mayor K Chandrika, Jury chairman Paul Cox and film director Shaji N Karun attended the opening ceremony. ‘The Ring,’ a silent movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock, was screened as the inaugural film to the accompaniment of a live orchestra led by British jazz musician Soweto Kinch.