Slow & steady
The International Film Festival of India seems to be carving a niche for itself, writes Ervell E. Menezes

Bombay Summer by Joseph Mathew Verghese tells the story of three young persons from completely different backgrounds The Italian film Schemes of Affection by director Dodo Fiori is about the coming of age of a precocious boy

The 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) — that concluded recently in Goa — was not much different from the earlier festivals with its usual share of good, bad and indifferent films, and some glitches in management, but slowly the festival seems to be carving a niche for itself.

Though good care had been taken by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) to bring in the best of films, there was still a feeling that "this year’s films were not as good as last year’s."

Somehow, the Indian films were more impressive and this included the Film India Worldwide Section, where the Indians abroad had shown their fondness for the motherland in the choice of their subjects.

Umakant Thumrugoti’s 7 days in Slow Motion caught the eye, even if it was a little more than a children’s film. Set in Hyderabad, the film focusses on young Ravi, an ordinary boy but for his obsession with cinema. When he finds a filmmaker’s lost camera, he, along with his friends Hamid and Onkar, decides to make a film in seven days. The subject is their own families with the warts and secrets. The focus is Ravi’s mother, who aspired to be an actress but gave it up because of her domineering mother. This grandma is the villain of the piece. In fact, this absorbing film put many foreign films to shame. There were many films this year that began well, had a good middle but ended up as damp squibs because of poor scripts.

Umakant Thumurugoti, who worked for 15 years with Disney, pointed out this defect in both Bollywood and Hollywood films, while explaining how they worked in Disney, especially on scripts. If a film was made in four years, the first two years were devoted to developing scripts.

Umakant Thumrugoti’s (left) 7 days in Slow Motion was an absorbing film that put many foreign films to shame

Bombay Summer by Joseph Mathew Varghese was another impressive entry. It tells the story of three young persons from completely different backgrounds who run into each other, and in due course, are changed by their circumstances. Geeta is a young woman trying to balance a thriving career and the needs of a family. Jaidev is an upcoming writer struggling to become independent of his wealthy family, and Madan is a commercial artiste, forced to supplement his income with risky illegal ventures.

Through these three characters, Varghese has been able to capture the right ambience of Mumbai in all its facets – even the underworld — and all this in less than 90 minutes. Not surprisingly, there is a love triangle that is handled admirably. In typical Bollywood style, tragedy also strikes, but the different moods and emotions are given ample scope and the players also excel, especially Tannishtha Chatterjee as the heroine, ably supported by Samrat Chakrabarti and Jatin Goswami. There have been a number of films recently, set in Mumbai, but this one ranks high among them.

The decorated IFFI head office and the red-carpet area Photo: Amit Soyru

Laxmikant Shetgaonkar’s The Man Beyond The Bridge lived up to its reputation as a Canadian award winner.

Shaji N. Karun’s Kutty Srank is a rather long-winded story about a boat driver (played by Mammooty), who has a cargo service in the seaport of Kodungallor. This film shows the relationship of the boat driver with three different women who are not known to each other. They meet for the first time when their husband dies and the rest of the story narrates the relationship that the three women have for the boat driver. The story had quite a few possibilities but Shaji goes about it in a laboured way. The excuse that he is trying to capture the right ambience doesn’t hold much water. But then, Shaji has never lived up to his Piavi reputation and none of his latter films come anywhere near it.

The Italian film Schemes of Affection by Dodo Fiori is about the coming of age of a precocious boy. Paolo is a 50-year-old architect from Rome who feels that his son Matteo is not taking after him. The rest of the family is also steeped in complications. First, Paolo’s friend Russo goes to jail to save Paolo and his brother from a crime they have been implicated in. Hence, Paolo is indebted to Russo and looks after his daughter Nina when Russo gets admitted to hospital. Meanwhile, Matteo’s cousin does not waste time, and tries to score with the trampish Nina. Now all eyes are on Matteo. How will he react?

Director Dodo Fiori weaves a quaint tapestry and interplay between Paolo, his wife and Matteo that is handled in a mature manner. Nina’s presence is the spark that is the right culmination of an absorbing story.

The Iranian film Bleeding Heart by Mohammad Reza Rahmani is an unusual story. Emad has killed his wife and is awaiting the verdict. Emad’s sister-in-law suffers from a heart ailment and Emad decides to bequeath his heart to her after his death. A young woman public prosecutor is given the case. Despite her husband’s opposition, she does a good job of handling the dead wife’s family sensitively. The film is treated in typical Iranian style; with well-alternating close-ups and long shots. Elnaz Shakedourst as the lawyer is impeccable, followed closely by Hamed Behdad.

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky by Jan Kounen is set in Paris and centres on socialite Coco Chanel and her infatuation for Igor Stravinsky after being mesmerised by his dance troupe. What follows is a torrid love affair between the two and how Igor’s wife and family react to it. A few nude scenes are probably the film’s greatest draw, though Anna Mouglalis has put in an excellent performance in the lead role. But the film is quite disappointing for a Cannes entry.

Coming to the glitches at the festival, there were many. At the opening function itself chaos ruled, as there were more invitees than seats. Chief Minister Digamber Kamat is believed to have asked for 500 VVIP seats (out of the 910 capacity) that were reserved for sarpanches and panchayat officials, who had nothing to do with films. Not surprisingly, the DFF officials threw up their hands in helplessness even before the event.

The much-touted inauguration of the digital section was a non-starter as there was no technical support. The Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) was to be blamed for this as a regular technician at Inox had quit. His replacement was not given a work order. So, those who came to Inox 4 had to return disappointed on two successive days.

The programming was not the best, and long delays for the start of the films caused much irritation. Also, there was no spotlight when the filmmakers were introduced to the audience. There were some long films (of three hours’ duration) scheduled for late-night shows, hardly convenient in a place like Goa where transportation is a problem, especially for visitors.

Some of these ESG activities seemed pointless, including the T20 of Indian cinema contest, which drew a lot of flak. Maybe, the ESG shouldn’t indulge in its bid to please the janta and concentrate more on films and not reduce the festival to a sort of tamasha.