Catching up with the world of cinema

In Goa (as part of the jury for the newly established Centenary Award at the International Film Festival of India) it’s been a good mix of watching films and catching up with the world of cinema, as well as friends.

I have been coming to the film festival every year since it shifted to Goa and each time I can see it inching towards change. But essentially, this still remains a very “cosy” festival and needs one gigantic push towards attaining a more distinct identity. But the good news is that it seems to be finally getting there!
For the centenary award we — three-member jury comprising of the filmmakers Gautam Ghose, Buddhadeb Dasgupta as well as me — had to choose a film from the overall festival, including the panorama and the non-competitive sections. The main criterion was that it had to be a film which actually made a paradigm shift. It could be in terms of aesthetics, subject matter or even technology, but a film which represented the fact that cinema is constantly evolving.
There were some very strong contenders. Ultimately we chose Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist because it had such a sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of a deeply divisive and difficult issue. In a world of black and white stereotypes the film throws a fresh light on post-9/11 relationships. But it is also a far more universal film as it addresses the (often) deliberate lack of understanding between communities.
Besides, for me, the film represented many other things: it is truly global even in its cast and crew. While the director, Mira, is of Indian origin, the main protagonist, Riz Ahmed, is British, originally of Pakistani descent. The cast includes Shabana Azmi, Kate Hudson, Om Puri and a host of other Hollywood, Pakistani and Indian actors. It was great to see another Pakistani novelist Ali Sethi also feature in the film both as an actor as well as a vocalist.
Based on Mohsin Hamid’s book, the film will raise a lot of debate but it is, at last, a film about conflict from an Asian perspective. Unlike commercial melodramatic ventures like My Name Is Khan, the film is taut and well-scripted. It is disturbing but retains a hugely positive emotive power.
And when I bumped into Mira (without telling her of her win, of course) she said the film has received very good reviews on the festival circuit. And we were lucky to get to see it in Goa because it is slated for an April 2013 release. Interestingly, she also told me how tough it was to raise funding for the film but then Mira never gives up and thank God for that.
Another NRI who has made a huge name for himself in the West in the world of cinema is Ashok Amritraj, and he was present at the festival too, packaged as the billion-dollar producer. Amritraj was charmingly candid about his foray into Hollywood, especially how he plunged into film-making from a successful stint in tennis. It was a pleasant evening sitting in the garden of the International Centre in Goa and listening to someone who can count on everyone from Angelina Jolie to Bruce Willis as his friends. Of course, they also feature in his movies. The adventures of Amritraj might make an interesting biopic one day, but meanwhile he announced a new film with Jennifer Aniston based on a book called Switch. He also mentioned that it had taken him nearly seven years before he managed to climb right up the ladder in Hollywood to make his first spectacular profit. And today his office sifts through at least 1,000 ideas and scripts for films every year, out of which, perhaps, only three or four are chosen. Game, set and match!
But for those Indian producers/directors ready to send their ideas to him watch out. When I asked him why he hadn’t made any Indian films, he just laughed outright.
Now… what could that possibly mean? Ummmmm…

As I write we are also getting ready to attend the closing ceremony of the film festival (but before that an old friend and producer Bobby Bedi and I will lunch with the designer Wendell Rodricks, who has one of the loveliest homes in Goa. He and his partner Jerome are also culinary experts and so I know I am heading for a real feast). This year, as with the opening, the Goa government is trying to pull out all the stops. They have organised for us to be taken across to Reis Magos by boat, and then from there we will be taken to party in the famous Reis Magos fort. For me this will be a particularly emotional moment because this was the restoration of Reis Magos, a project the late artist and dear friend Mario Miranda had worked on, and we had planned to come and see it with him before which his health took a turn for the worse. So tonight we will raise a toast to the memory of Mario and also enjoy the swift, warm winds as they sweep over the Arabian Ocean bringing another film festival to a close.
But I couldn’t possibly end this diary without a mention of my meeting, at a party last night, with the new chief executive of the censor board, Pankaja Thakur. Young and dynamic, she is like a breath of fresh air and has absolutely the right kind of liberal mindset required for the job, wherein she genuinely appreciates good cinema. And the same evening I also met the multi-dimensional Vishal Bhardwaj who also told me that his new film set in Haryana, Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola, has an interesting twist that he is keeping quiet about. He preferred to talk about the “pink cow” in the film and sang the rest of the night away.
So folks, start planning to be here for the next IFFI 2013.