Cultural acts liven up messy Iffi opening

MARGAO: Perhaps the most excited at the inauguration of the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) 2011 was Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat who made no qualms about how ecstatic he was that the ceremony was being held in his “beautiful Margao city” for the first time.
“This has been my dream for a long time. My beautiful Margao had lost its status as a social-cultural centre.That has been restored now,” Kamat said, offering a special thanks to information and broadcasting minister Ambika Soni, who was “instrumental in the realization” of the CM’s dream. Other than that, the inauguration ceremony of this year’s “festival of change” was not unlike that of the previous years.
It began late, there was chaos almost throughout and the presence of film personalities was minimal. One of the few, but most important, saving graces of the festival was the ponytailed, black suit-clad guest of honour Shah Rukh Khan, who was forgiven for arriving “fashionably” late almost as soon as he walked in to a thunderous applause by the packed audience.
“I feel weird roaming around Goa in a suit. I’m still wearing my Bermudas underneath. Maybe I could strip?” Khan, who refused to take off his black sunglasses until he reached the stage, joked. Talking about cinema, he said, “Cinema is the modern art of storytelling ‘a collective focus addressed to all, open to all and including all’. Cinema allows everyone to dream the same dream.”
Tavanier gets lifetime award
He added that an honest effort was critical in order to produce anything of value and complimented the organizers for making that effort. Soni said, “I want to tell the protesters that I will talk to the organizers and do my best to try and change the dates,” she said. Another highlight of the function was the felicitation of popular French director Bertrand Tavanier who was presented with the lifetime achievement award.
“It’s an honour and also a little frightening to be receiving this award. Does it mean my life’s finished? I’d like a few more years,” he joked.
The show, hosted by actors Rahul Khanna and Tisca Chopra, witnessed the presence of very few film personalities: Actor Prem Chopra and directors Ramesh Sippy and Janu Barua.
Bengali actor Rituparna Sengupta, who was also present and called on stage to felicitate the dignitaries, promptly forgot her aim and went and stood next to Khan, until someone walked up to the stage to tell her what she needed to do. The event concluded with a kaleidoscope of various Indian dance styles, followed by the harmonious blend of the voices of the Shillong Chamber choir.