Goa fails to be the new Cannes Puja Talwar http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Goa+fails+to+be+the+new+Cannes&id=97164
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 (Panaji): India's dream to host a world class film festival like Cannes or Berlinale remains just that a dream. Three years ago in an attempt to mirror the Cannes experiment the festival was taken out of Delhi and shifted to Goa an attempt to inject a dash of glamour to an otherwise bureaucratic event. We takes a hard look at whether the move has helped or have the bureaucrats simply changed into beach shorts. Holiday attraction It is to tap into the charms of a Goan holiday that three years ago IFFI was permanently shifted from New Delhi to the coastal state. Its laidback sun and sands, cruises, coves and holiday homes, organisers thought would work as a magnet for tourists and film buffs and make Goa, country's answer to the famous seaside fest of Cannes. But it is this very holiday attraction that seems to be working against the film fest. ''That's the weakness of the festival. The focus seems to be on tourism rather than cinema. Cannes is great place to be at that time of the year. But the focus is always on cinema," said Saibal Chatterjee, Film columnist. "There are big film stars, really big directors but the focus never moves away from movies. That's the problem here. There are too many personalities. The focus seems to be on personalities rather than the work they do," Chatterjee added. ''Goa for all its beauty does not have a film culture. We have been cribbing about Delhi. But Delhi has an audience that wants to watch these films. Here they only come to see the film stars and walk away," he further said. Delhi red tape Delhi for years was a hub of IFFI but Delhi was too much red tape. So did Goa break the ice? ''The problem with Delhi was, it was too bureaucratic. We thought Goa would be idyllic. But Goa has become even more bureaucratic because here two governments are involved," said Bobby Bedi, Producer. ''I would like it if it was in Delhi because I live there. Film festival is a place where the infrastructure should be in place, lots of open forums for actors, directors to interact," said Nandita Das, Actress. Then there is the Goa brigade mostly from Bollywood all out in support of the shift. "Goa is the only place where it should be held. It has a great atmosphere. We should remove the serious attitude that is attached to such film fests and just enjoy it. Its a great place, great weather," said Nikhil Advani, Director, Producer. ''At the film festival circuit, the films do get its due attention. Then there's curiosity about the place. And what better way and place to be," said Shiny Ahuja, Actor. ''Goa has always been my favourite. It's picturesque. I love the atmosphere. International buyers have a great opportunity here. It's a great place to do both work and have fun," said Shilpa Shetty, actress. Divided house ''It is the perfect venue. It will take some time to adjust and get things in place," said Praveen Dabas, Actor. But what emerges in this fairly divided house is not whether the film festival should be held in Delhi or Goa or someplace else but who should hold it. It is on this point on and off camera they all agree. Goa or no Goa the government as an organiser should go. ''One big change we need is the government to move away from the fest. It should just be a benevolent sponsor," said Bedi. -- FN 9822122436 +91-832-240-9490 (phone calls after 1 pm please) FLOSS, geeks, blogs: [http://planet.foss.in/] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Goanet supports BMX, the alumni network of Britto's, St Mary's and Xavier's -- three prominent institutions in Mapusa, Goa. Events scheduled from Dec 16 to 21, 2006 For more details visit http://www.bmxgoa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------