IFFI goof up: Goa smudges report card

Even as curtains for the 37th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will come down on Sunday, the dreams of hosting the prestigious event again by the organisers, the Goa government and its nodal agency, Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), who have been blowing their own trumpet, seem to be in the shambles.

The organisers have obviously got a 'poor report card? from both film critics and movie buffs for showcasing a carnival rather than a film festival. Now, the big question that remains to be answered is whether the Union information and broadcasting ministry thinks of shifting the venue?

Goa, which is hosting the film festival for the third time in a row, was declared as the permanent venue for the IFFI last year by the ministry.

The IFFI 2006, a Rs 10-crore extravaganza - Rs 5 crore from the state exchequer and another Rs 5 crore through sponsorship - has witnessed utter chaos, blemishing the reputation of the Goa government and ESG.

Denying that the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) has any role in selecting or changing the venue for the IFFI, its director V B Pyarelal told Business Standard that any decision to shift the festival venue would be taken at the highest level.

He has prepared a report on the ongoing IFFI and will soon submit it to the I&B ministry. "It is a routine for the festival director to send a report to the ministry at the end of the event," Pyarelal claimed.

Nonetheless, the organisers have not covered themselves in glory. Conceived plans and casual attitude are in ample evidence.

While 5000 delegates have registered for the event, and as many as 450 journalists have descended on the former Portuguese colony to cover the carnival, only five screens have been arranged. Neither the DFF nor the Goa government, who hosted earlier two editions of IFFI, have learnt any lessons.

For actress Nandita Das, Delhi is the right venue for the IFFI. "The film festival is a place where the infrastructure should be in place, lots of open forums for actors and directors to interact."

Most of the film critics have strongly felt that the DFF should at the most play a secondary role, leaving ESG total freedom to organise the event as they are not complementary. Giving both the bureaucratic bodies a role means inviting trouble as they snap at each other's heels.

"The problem with Delhi is, it is too bureaucratic. We thought Goa would be ideal. But Goa has become even more bureaucratic because here two governments are involved," says Bobby Bedi, producer-director.

Abhishek Srivastav, entertainment head, Aaj Tak, is of the opinion that this year's festival is the dullest of all the IFFI events held so far. "It's got no glamour, no charm? foreign delegates are missing? chaos abounds and government should no more be part of it. They should hand it over to some private agency," he feels.

BJP leader and former chief minister of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, who brought the mega event to the state, said that the top international film actors and directors were not attending the film festival simply because there are no efforts in that direction.

"Efforts to bring them for the event should start the moment the previous film festival ends," he suggested.

Parrikar also brushed off the fears that the prestigious film festival would be moved out from the state due to the chaos witnessed during the past few days.

"Goa is the permanent venue for the IFFI right from the day one," he observed.

After IFFI 2006 concludes, a brain-storming session is badly needed to find ways to host the film festival a la the Cannes before Goa loses the confidence of the film fraternity and its permanent venue status.