Goa's biggest budget film yet premieres at Iffi

PANAJI: Goa’s arguably biggest film yet Baga Beach – A season in Paradise, was screened at the Iffi’s Indian Panorama section on Tuesday.
Addressing a media conference soon after the screening the director Laxmikant Shetgaonkar said that the film which is going to see a commercial release soon, was about the contemporary problems mostly found in communities living by the golden beach of Goa.
“The film is about a six month tourist season and the lives of seven characters who are a part of the film. It is about the lives of these characters which are inter-woven into the film,” Shetgaonkar said, adding that for the film he had used an ensemble cast which included actors from around the world with Paoli Dam adding star power to the film.
Dam said that she shot for the film immediately after the last edition of the International Film Festival of India and that the film was shot within 30 days.
“I had a great time in Goa. I spent the first two three days seeing how these young girls selling articles on the beach live, how they spend their day, how they run away from the police too, “ Dam said.
“It’s deals with Indian tourists who come to Goa, foreigners who look forward to a holiday on the beach, migrants who come to Goa looking for a livelihood. All these voices are a part of the film,” Shetgaonkar said speaking more about the film.
Shetgaonkar said that he hoped that his film would start a film movement in Goa given the exposure the movie would give to Goan talent as well as the Goan landscape.
The director also said that the film could work as an eye opener to those visiting Goa, who see the only as a land of feni and fun.
“There are other aspects also at play which people should see and become aware of when they are in Goa,” he said.