International film fest a success, say organisers

SURAT: The Narmad International Film Festival concluded here on Sunday on a successful note. Though the festival may not have seen a large turnout of audience, the organisers are confident that the event has left a lasting impression on the Surti film buffs.
The three-day festival featured 19 films in Gujarati, Hindi, English and Sinhalese languages along with the educational seminars by eminent personalities from Bollywood like Subhash Ghai, Om Puri and film analyst Komal Nahata.The panel discussion on the revival of Gujarati cinema was attended by well-known people from Gujarati film industry such as Upendra Trivedi, professor Subhash Shah, Krishna Kant (KK) and Deepak Baviskar.
On the last day, about five films namely Saraswatichandra, Hawai Dada, My Son is Fanatic, Dear Friend Hitler and The White Land were screened.
Organisers said the screening of Dear Friend Hitler and The White Landsaw a good turnout. Dear Friend Hitler, which is directed by Rakesh Ranjan Kumar starring Raghuvir Yadav and Neha Dhupia, is a multilingual film based on the letters written by Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler. The movie was initially controversial but the controversy died down after it was screened at the Berlin film festival, which appreciated the movie for showing facts and shunning the glorification of Hitler.
On the other hand, The White Land film directed by Jayant Gilatar is based on the real story of Gujarat's salt workers. Gracy Singh of the Lagaan fame is playing a coveted role of a powerful village sarpanch in the film.
"The Narmad international film festival would like to be the leader in bringing best films of the world to Surat. This was the first step in developing film culture in the diamond city," said Kashyap Pandya, festival director who is the brainchild behind the international film festival.
"We are excited with the fact that the film festival has provided a unique intellectual platform to the young and aspiring film makers in the city. The purpose of the festival was not only to screen the films but also to be a conduit for discussions, film events and workshops," Pandya said.
According to Pandya, Surat is the financial capital of Gujarat and thus keeping in mind the entrepreneurial spirit of the Surtis, a seminar on business of cinema was organised under the expert guidance of film trade analyst Komal Nahata.
Salil Upadhyay, member of core team of the international film festival, said, "The success of the first international film festival in the diamond city has opened up avenues for us to make it an annual affair. Next year, we will organise the festival with a different theme."
Kunal Desai, organizer of the film festival, said, "Surat has never hosted international film festival and this was first of its kind. We hope that in the coming years, the film festival will serve as Surat's window to the world."