The last tango in Goa?Hindustan Times: Mumbai, November 03, 2007 Notes on the 38th IFFI, opening on November 23 Cast: Rajnikant or Dharmendra to be chief guest (suspense), guest appearances by Manmohan Shetty, Amit Khanna, Yash Chopra, Sudhir Mishra, Kumar Mangat, Ketan and Deepa Mehta, Jabbar Patel, Ronnie Screwvalla
Direction: Neelam Kapoor, directorate of films festivals, I and B Ministry Rating: To be factored on December 3, after closing ceremony The feni-`n’-games are on schedule. Despite thunder claps that Goa would not be the venue for the great big film festival any more, it is. From November 23 the beach land will be the host-with-the-most for the ten-day-long 38th International Film Festival of India – called IIFI by friends, well-wishers and relatives. So what was the snafu anyway? The relocation of the annual event from the red-scotch-taped New Delhi to chilled-out Goa was taken nearly half a decade ago, after much hair-and-hippy splitting by the Union ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Many eminent filmmakers – including Shyam Benegal --felt that chaos and confusion were endemic at the fest in the capital. Goa would be sunny, it could be an ideal spot for overseas delegates to gambol in Bermudas and bikinis. And glory be, nephews of minister’s third aunts wouldn’t be tripping over themselves to catch that Polish movie with the geyser-hot scenes. For all that talk about to access to Internet porn, there’s nothing like er, a bodyroom scene in 35 mm, watched with 1,000 others. Talk of group sex.Neither the entries nor the quantity or quality of delegates have improved. Even the regular-as-rain British critic Derek Malcolm has quit attending. In principle, the shift from Delhi to Goa made sense. But now, the snoop squad in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is leaking info that the fourth consecutive fest in Goa could well be its last one – if the state co-organisers and the Entertainment Society of God don’t pull up their socks. Well.. who needs hosiery on the beach anyway? With all its pros and cons, the Delhi-to-Goa shift has registered some gains: no more nephews-of-ministers’-aunts, no bureaucratic no-no’s, no winter to freeze your innards. But come to think of it, most film festivalgoers have missed displaying their camphor-scented woolies at the Siri Fort lawns over steaming tomato soup. The rescheduling of the fest from Delhi in December-end to Goa in November-end, has evoked mixed feelings. How about some gaffe spotting? The December to November shift was also calculated to entice better entries, many more delegates, and of course, the crème de la crème from the international prize winners at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Bora Bora, and even Fukuoka, which incidentally is a Japanese town and film festival. Neither the entries nor the quantity or quality of delegates have improved. Even the regular-as-rain British critic Derek Malcolm has quit attending. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=ded37412-7867-41e8-8b04-9c2ae66bd9c9&&Headline=The+last+tango+in+Goa%3f - Forwarded by: Sanny de Quepem <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
