We Can't have Cannes? By Ervell E Menezes The thing I love most about Goa (read Goa Government) is how they come with the most outlandish ideas and suggestions. About 10 years ago we were talking about a free trade zone and in between there has been a number of aberrations, most of them stillborn out of Delhi, after all isn't Goa a bebinca to be divided and distributed by them? The latest is making Goa India's Cannes, as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad said in London the other day.
There are not even five good cinemas in the State but no, the powers-that-be are thinking of the fun and games that can take place in this "holiday haven" .The films, of course, are a secondary consideration. Response: Bollywood (India's film industry) is only second to Hollywood and far ahead of European film industry. Sooner or later, India will get a film festival and Indian equivalent of Cannes; whether Goans want it on not. When India gets a venue for the festival, there will not be another venue. A country can have only one 'Silicon Valley'. Those who miss the boat will just have to miss the boat. So Goans will have to decide if they want to be ahead and continue to be the number one state and the number one tourist destination or loose that lead to other states just as it has lost on many other fronts. I am glad Goa is called a holiday heaven. I am disappointed that this film critic cannot see the bigger picture. I would have thought that a film festival would be a gourmet buffet for a film critic. Or perhaps he and we have to be satisfied with pez.=:))) Regards, Gilbert. ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
