Duality, like cinema, has its own beauty and suspense. The 44th International Film Festival of India, inaugurated at the Goa Kala Academy in a glittering ceremony is being held for the 10th year in the tourism state after it was shifted from the national Capital. It also marks the 101st year of Indian cinema. At IFFI, duality unfolded its charm, most fortuitously on the inaugural day in surprising combinations of modernism and classicism; celebrations and politics; old and new; regional and Hindi.
At the inauguration that kicked off with veteran actor Waheeda Rahman and Oscar winning actor and activist Susan Sarandon lighting the ceremonial lamp in the presence of acclaimed Iranian director Majid Majidi, Pandit Birju Maharaj, the world renowned kathak legend and master choreographer presented an era of contributions he and his gurus have made to music and dance in Hindi cinema through a six pieces stitched together to mark the different eras of dance, essentially kathak.
The master choreographer’s duet with world renowned sitar maestro Ustad Nishat Khan at the country’s biggest film event was a fitting tribute to (one of the many elements of) Indian classicism, and in the broader sense, it’s a gesture of gratitude to artists (other than the stars and actors) who have made India known as the “Cannes of the East”. Though momentarily, a chorographical piece performed by Maharaj’s disciples to the background and a soundtrack from Vishwaroopam, starring Kamal Haasan, managed some proxy attendance for the scanty “regional element” on a stage grabbed by Bollywood and its celebration.
Veteran actor Waheeda Rahman was honoured with the First Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality. The Lifetime achievement award went to renowned filmmaker from the Czech Republic, Jiri Menzel whose film Don Juans opened the festival. Having attended “30 out of 44” IFFIs, Haasan evoked his memories of IFFI held in Delhi in the 1970s. He hailed Jiri Menzel for his contribution to world cinema. “I thank the world cinema fraternity. Thank you Menzel saahab… I know so many of his students of his in India. I am one of them. There are many more to be mentored…” In her address, Sarandon expressed her regret for not having watched enough Indian films and said she was “unfortunate and ashamed” for not having been exposed to the cinema the country has produced. Veteran singer Asha Bhosle, Actors Rekha Ganesan, Rani Mukherjee, Jackie Shroff, Venkatesh Duggubati, Rana Duggubati, Nana Patekar and film maker Rakeysh OmPrakash Mehra were also present at the inaugural ceremony.
The 10 day festival will screen 328 films in all with 171 foreign films and 157 from India. The focus country this year is Japan and films from Haiti, Latvia, Estonia, Bhutan, Paraguay, East Timor, Chad and other countries will be screened along with 15 oscar-nominated ones. In the background of an impressive 80 per cent participation of digital platform coinciding with the spotlight on North East, Tewari told the New Indian Express that filmmakers from the North East will be encouraged and helped in training, filmmaking apart from the screening of films. “We have also requested Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma to open the North East segment,” he said. The festival will come to an end with the screening of a biopic on anti-Apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, Long Walk To Freedom. Two Indian films from among the 15 from worldwide will be competing for the coveted Golden Peacock Award. In the Indian film section, Rituparno Ghosh’s last film Satyanwesi.
Screening of films Baga Beach, a Konkani film highlighting the Goan people’s struggle in the wake of the growing tourism industry and The Coffin Maker, starring Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah is being awaited by the people of Goa.
At IFFI where the jugalbandi (duet) between the UPA led government in the centre and the BJP-ruled Goa state has been so far fairly harmonious, the noise about signing a five year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to make Goa the permanent venue and helping it build the required infrastructure got louder.
Earlier on the inaugural day, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said, “It’s the beginning of the new century in Indian Cinema. We at the UPA government are doubly committed to make the end of the centenary of India indeed very special. We have organized IFFI has remained in Goa for 10 years successfully. What more a sign of ‘permanence’ could one give?” The Minister poetically stated UPA government’s commitment to make the festival a success and even drew puns on the word “haath” (also the symbol of the Congress) to express his interest in future partnership with the Goa government for IFFI. The Minister announced the completion of the first phase of the National Film Heritage Mission and the setting up of the National Museum for Indian Cinema in Pune.
Tewari did not lose the opportunity in taking a dig at “a certain gentleman who is trying to brand the celebration of Indian cinema”. He made references to BJP’s “prime ministerial candidate” (without taking the latter’s name) and said the “they don’t have people’s blessings”. He said, “Decades ago, like this particular “certain gentleman, another certain gentleman tried to brand the Berlin Olympics...”
In a response to a question from the New Indian Express on why the heritage component of films on politics and democracy is missing from the screenings at IFFI 2013, Tewari said he regretted skipping the idea and component. “Politics and art are about perception. The festival director however has noted the point.” he said, laughing. Will Goa be the permanent venue? Will the “partnership” Tewari celebrates change hands? Duality has its suspense.