STAR POWER
One of the most striking highlights of this year’s edition of IFFI was the massive star power that graced
the film festival. Unlike any previous editions of IFFI held in Goa, IFFI 2017
had the most number of Bollywood A-listers who registered their attendance in
the capital city, making for ample material to ogle at with a heavy dose of
glitz, glamour and star power. The festival, which opened on November 20, amid
the presence of superstars Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapoor and Sridevi, witnessed
the presence of celebrities like Karan Johar, Siddharth Roy Kapur, Alia Bhatt,
Shraddha Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput, Ekta Kapoor across the duration of the
festival. One of the biggest draw, however, was superstar Salman Khan who put up
a performance with his Tubelight co-star Matin Rey Tangu, at the closing
ceremony. Actor Sidharth Malhotra also took to the stage and trapezed about on
a rope, regaling the audience with his dance moves and a tribute to superstar
Amitabh Bachchan, performing on some of his more iconic songs. Also present at
the closing ceremony were stars like Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif.
OPENING AND CLOSING CEREMONY
This one seems to be an annual affair and it’s a shame that despite having adequate systems in place to count
the exact number of mediapersons covering the event, every year a large number
of journalists are deprived of the passes for opening and closing ceremony of
IFFI. Also, this year the arrangements inside seemed to favour the VIP section
that had the best view of the stage, with the photojournalists getting the step
child treatment – asked to occupy a space a good 20-odd rows away from the
stage.
PARKING ARRANGEMENT
Parking was yet another issue that continued to dampen the festive spirit of IFFI. The parking
arrangements for not only four wheelers but also two wheelers seemed to be a
result of shoddy planning. The access road to the INOX parking lot was blocked
because of which delegates had to park their vehicles along the roads between
Campal (near Kala Academy) and the INOX building. The use of Kala Academy
parking lot was also not permitted and hence film buffs had to enjoy their
movies with a part of them hoping that their vehicles are not clamped for
parking on the roads.
KATTA AND
SKILL SET STUDIO
Katta, a
stage for informal masterclasses allowed the
general public (non-delegates) to see their favorite stars up close and
personal, interact with them and hear them talk about their lives. This one was
a welcome addition to this year’s IFFI. Skill Set Studio, a space inside the
bioscope village was a boon for aspiring filmmakers to interact with filmmakers
and technicians to learn the various technical aspects of filmmaking. Skill Set
Studio saw artistes like Resul Pookutty, Sudhir Mishra and Mukesh Chhabra talk
about sound designing, script writing and casting respectively.
BIOSCOPE VILLAGE
There were three 150-seater mobile theatres equipped with a/c and 5.1 dolby system that gave
non-delegates an experience of watching films in a high-tech makeshift theatre.
There were films being played to cater to everyone’s taste. While some classic
Indian and Hollywood films like Golmaal, Amar Akbar Anthony, Bicycle Thieves,
Double Indemnity were for fans who might not have watched these films on a
bigger screen, there were new releases like Mom, English Vinglish, Aashiqui 2,
Hindi Medium and Badrinath Ki Dulhaniya, etc that gave the audiences the
big-screen experience. Children’s films like Mr. India, Half Ticket and Bal
Ganesh also found many takers.
FOOD COURT
This one’s a
mystery as no one seems to
know what exactly happened. The parking lot of INOX was converted into a food
court with space allotted for multiple food stalls, most of whom never showed
up. Throughout the duration of the festival, the food court wore a deserted
look with only a couple of stalls functioning. A massive space that could have
been utilised well, ended up being wasted without use.
