What I write has nothing to do with the films and everything to do with the festival that surrounded the 35th IFFI held for the first time in Goa...and differently. The IFFI-goa 2004 was really a party with a difference!
The show began with a traditional malkhamb turned into a dance form like a ballet, there was a muslim rendering the beat to the inauguration [both are part of a yet-to-be-released film] and the only religious symbolism was in the name of the movie director of 'Kisna'...Subhash Ghai ;-) One does not normally break a coconut to end a celebration, but IFFI-goa 2004 was different. The curtain was brought down by our very own, foreign-return Bondo ;-)
Even I did not anticipate the 'rush hour' traffic at 7.00 p.m. in Panjim. I missed the performance of Hema Sardessai in the bargain. The show, for me, began with a mimicry so boring that I would have socked the guy who derived sadistic pleasure in boring us till Remo brought relief. There were about a
lakh of boys and girls and men ahead of me. The police and the height of the stage.... and the absence of rotten tomatoes at the venue.....saved the guy.
The ECO-CLEAN guys and gals have done a great job to keep the place clean. I would hate to see Curca...or wherever the tonnes of disposable plates,cups and bottles have been dumped.
Remo apparently responded to Cecil Pinto's re-post of the 2003 spoof on synchronized music back-up in 'pseudo live' shows. He also responded to CM Parrikar's response to his [Remo's ] criticism. Perhaps the District hospital at Peddem-Mapusa will not be ready in six months[ There is no pressure on it as in the case of IFFI. A Hospital also needs greater attention than a multiplex. If there is a glitch in projection it is one thing. If there is a glitch in a surgical operation, it is a question of life here or hereafter.] Everyone can be absolutely sure that it will be of a better standard than the present GMC Hospital at Bambolim. It is
designed to be.
And on spending public funds judiciously, Remo is apparently on a sticky wicket. A year and half back, Remo accepted [or, at least, did not reject] a sponsorship of Rs.3.00 lakhs from the cash-strapped Goa Directorate of Health Services for SARS awareness to coincide with his 50th birthday celebration very close to where he performed today. The state apparatus was also on duty for traffic arrangements, law and order and the clean up operations.[That the then Editor of oHeraldo, Mr.Rajan Narayan, and party were around with virgin white face masks and other contraptions, is another
matter.] That money, too, could have been better used for health care in the villages of Goa...iron for the pregnant women, medicine kits for the TB patients, etc. SARS was never a real threat in Goa. Perhaps a sponsorship of some equipment in the Siolim Primary Health Centre, even painting of the PHC premises there....or some form of restitution for the 'generosity' of the
DHS on his 50th birthday.... will restore to Remo the right to criticise the Government without seeming dishonest like the preacher preaching honesty with a stolen goose in the refractory.
Remo does do charity: simply, matter of factly and quietly. I have recently been with him to a Caritas-sponsored institution housing children with HIV-AIDS in Goa. He played his guitar and sang some of the same songs to this unfortunate children that he sang today. He also sang Christmas carols and a hymn for these children at their request. He tuned the guitar that one of the boys had there and taught a novice some chords so that she could teach the kids. There is no doubting Remo's honesty. It is his image that needs repair after his 50th birthday bash. To me it seems that our CM may
also require such an exercise after IFFI. Perhaps both can ignore this altogether. Remo-bashers and Parrikar-bashers are few and far between.
Whether IFFI-goa 2004 was a success in terms of a
film festival or not is for the film fraternity[ Producers,Directors, actors and film critics] to say. That is not my cup of tea. I enjoy movies.Period.
The people's festival on the Dayanand Bandodkar Cornice Road [ I hope our first CM's name does not get eclipsed by the anglicisation in some reverse colonialisation ;-( ] was a resounding success. For the first time at an IFFI was there something for everyone. Old ladies from Valpoi in nav-vari sarees and kunbis from Canacona with their red-and purple checked ghantli, domestic and foreign tourists...everyone....enjoyed the festival.
I was both surprised and happy to see the Chairman of the Organizing committee and North Goa MP, Shripad Naik, at midnight near Stage-2 on DB Marg speaking into his mobile. He seemed as relaxed as I remember him at Pilar Nature Farm for Fr.Inacio Almeida's 61st birthday on 14 October. The broad smile seems to be a permanent fixture on his face. It is so nice to have a People's Representative like him.
In his own way he is as charismatic as the South Goa MP, Churchill Alemao...and without the airs that our dime-a-dozen MLAs like to put on the moment they are elected.
Whether Goa becomes a permanent IFFI venue or not....we have moved on.
Viva Goa.
Miguel
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