By- Akshita Wadhwa
Being an aspiring journalist, I always wanted to get a chance to cover elections of a state of India or the general elections. Watching other renowned journalists interviewing politicians, covering rallies, designing packages of the political scenarios was a dream for me. Little did I know that my golden opportunity would come wrapped in an unexpected twist of fate.
One day, during my post graduation class, one of the professors announced a test upon the cinema industry, Bollywood and Hollywood. I had no idea about this domain of journalism but I thought to give it a try. It was clarified that the qualifying one would be given a chance to attend the 55th International Film Festival of India in Goa. Surprisingly, with a few efforts, I qualified the test from my department and here the main story began.
As it was my first flight, I had butterflies i’m my stomach, experiencing emotions of fear and excitement at the same time. Reaching Goa, a vibrant state full of scenic beauty, was a moment of savour. But here comes the main part where I went to attend the daily screenings of the movie at IFFI. The first day started with the inauguration ceremony and the screening of the film Better Man. The film was about British pop singer Robbie Williams, directed by Michael Gracy.
Screening of movies like Batto ka Bulbula, Manas and Ghar Jaise Kuchh included a taste of comedy, emotions and inspiration with a great story line and direction. Movies such as Karken, Aasan, Manas unfolded on screen, each in different languages such as Tamil, Galo, Malayalam. These were presented with subtitles for better understanding of those who aren’t aware of these languages. Movies such as Holy Cow, Level Cross were also screened which were associated with International languages such as French, Spanish, etc. Special presentations of Masoom (1983), Taal (1999), Swades (2004) were also arranged.
Other than this, IFFI offered master sessions of personalities like Anupam Kher, where he mentioned the session, “failure is an event, never a person”. In a session of filmmaking and creativity, director Vidhu Vinod Chopra was questioned about the movie 12th Fail, which wasn’t sent for the Oscars, to which he replied, “I don’t care if my movie was sent for Oscars or not I just care that I made a good film”. Sessions of actress Bhumi Pednekar and Kriti Sanon shone spotlight on the representation and empowerment of women in cinema. Furthermore, sessions of personalities like AR Rahman, Imtiaz Ali, Ranbir Kapoor, Prasoon Joshi, Rakulpreet, Nagarjuna, Sharmila Tagore, Bharat Bala, Amish Tripathi and Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi were full of knowledge, insights and experiences.
Moreover, rubbing shoulders with Secretary of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Sanjay Jaju, ADG of IIMC, Dr. Nimish Rustagi, Film analyst and television show host, Shri Komal Nahta and Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, was a new experience as well. Another day, I got an opportunity to visit Film Bazaar at Marriott Resort, Panaji where I went through a tour of multiple pavilions of different Indian states which were representing rich cinema culture and film policies of their state. It also included pavilions of YouTube, Netflix, Waves OTT, Google Gemini, Sony live and Swayam, where the people were engaging while playing games, dubbing movie dialogues or clicking pictures in front of movie posters.
Exploring local markets of Goa, a few bustling malls and Aguada fort offered a unique and enlightening blend of history and culture. Walking through the sands of Baga beach, Miramar beach, Vainguinim Beach, Coco beach and Sinquerim beach was just like a breath of fresh air.
Overall experience was breathtaking and I would undoubtedly miss such a fulfilling experience which was a mix of learning and fun!
The author is a media student at Indian Institute of Mass Communication
