THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It was a visual fiesta for cine-goers in the city, as the screening of Oscar-winning and nominated movies provided them with an opportunity to watch the films under one roof in the week-long festival, which concluded the other day.
Film enthusiasts could be seen passionately entering Sree Padmanabha theatre to watch the movies despite the sweltering summer heat. The response from the part of the viewers appeared so satisfying that this festival could in turn be a fillip to conduct more festivals of this kind later.
M Renjith, executive committee member of the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, said: “The response from the viewers was tremendous so that nearly 700 passes and more than 1,000 daily tickets were sold out. We have on the cards elaborate plans for conducting the festival next year.”
According to him, rather than screening the movies in one theatre, it would be extended to more theatres next time. Therefore, viewers could also expect an increase in the number of films to be screened.
A visible participation of young and old was seen at the venue. Septuagenarian B K S Nair and his wife Sarada S Nair from PTP Nagar came to watch the film together. He said that this was a welcome gesture from part of the organisers. “Almost all films carried nice themes, except a few that were not intelligible to the viewer. As I am choosy in selecting the movies, the festival provided some really good movies to watch,” he said.
Whereas, for Ajayakumar J, a librarian at St Shantal school, Malamukal, the festival was a dream come true. “For years, I have been expecting a festival like this as the opportunity to watch the Oscar movies on big screen here is scarce. I found ‘The Descendants’ and ‘The Tree of Life’ the best,” he said. On the last day of the festival, many people who were out-of-station could be seen rushing to get a ticket so as to see at least one movie. Eight movies were screened altogether in the festival.