Jan 25, 1999

Screeching sounds, flawed projection, unintended fade-outs. Nothing is going right in Hyderabad, yet there's an undercurrent of excitement at the festival.

By Madhu Jain and Amarnath K Menon

Wham, bam, thank you, man -- well, sir. N. Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra Pradesh's cybernetic chief minister put on a spunky laser show to kickstart the 30th International Film Festival of India (IFFI '99) in Hyderabad. The lasers even sketched the man himself on a giant wall in bold electric green. And Naidu boasted of Hyderabad as a "happening city" -- the best stopover between Europe and China. But when the lasers died out and the festival began, it had all been nothing more than virtual reality.

Reality Bites
Forget the next century, we were almost back at the turn of this one when the projections began. Shekhar Kapur, whose film Elizabeth opened the festival, squirmed in his seat: the audio sounded butchered and the surface of the painted wall serving as the screen kept showing through. Not to talk of unintended fade-outs. It got worse for the rest. The much-hyped Godmother -- prima don(na) Shabana Azmi was good enough, but she was certainly no Mother India for the '90s as she made out -- suffered beyond redemption: the projection spilled out of the screen, it was seldom in focus and the soundtrack crackled, at times so loud the ear drums were in danger. Apparently the projectionist kept moving the projector with a shovel-like appliance to keep the images within the frame. And where were the festival authorities for what was supposed to launch Shabana's retrospective?

They were missing, too, for Piyush Jha's Chalo America. So miffed was the young director at the callous attitude of the officials of the Directorate of Film Festivals that he stopped the screening of the film barely five minutes after it had begun -- in protest against the failure of the officials to introduce him in the customary manner before the start of the film at such festivals. It was resumed after a great deal of persuasion.

Hic Hic Hurray
Where were those officials? Obviously out for dinner. Glasses flew like missiles and chairs were smashed when the Telugu film industry, after the initial tantrums over the absence of Telugu films in the Indian Panorama, hosted a dinner at the Annapurna Studios. The row started when it was announced that alcohol would not be served after 10 p.m. -- barely an hour after the bar opened. Nobody tried to stop the free-for-all: the well-known producers and directors were busy elsewhere, dancing attendance on the state's Home and Cinematography Minister A. Madhava Reddy. Worse, some securitymen believed to be part of the minister's entourage carried away bottles: no wonder liquor did not flow like the Krishna. And in the melee latecomers went hungry. The lucky ones found their way to the opposition court: it was open house at the ubiquitous Congress MP T. Subbarami Reddy's. The best place for those looking for legendary Hyderabadi cuisine and something more spirited to wet their throats.

Hairy Story
Shekhar Kapur's beard -- rather his missing beard -- was the talking point of the festival. It also gave him unwanted anonymity. When the car with him and his wife, singer-actress Suchitra Krishnamoorthy, passed by, one of the star-hunters amassed along the route to the Public Gardens peeped in and waved on the car with disappointment: "Isme to koi nahin hai (There's nobody in here)." And then continued looking for Shabana, Venkatesh or Dev Anand. Nandita Das, whose face has become familiar after the Fire hullabaloo, had better luck. But when a film buff saw her ambling along like any ordinary mortal, he said, "She won't get roles if she goes around with friends." Stars have movable courtiers. Lesson: Das should get a retinue and Kapur should stop shaving.

Now Cinemabad
The festival's actually a promo for selling Hyderabad as the country's new film mecca. And did they bite. So impressed by what he heard and saw on what is only his fourth visit, the evergreen Dev Anand who inaugurated the festival took a beaming Naidu by surprise and told him that his next movie would be made there. Half of Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan included, were on location. And on cue, Naidu, when asked for space to open the office of the National Film Development Corporation, readily offered to provide 2.5 acres to put up a complex with a screening facility.

Husain's Saga
Unlike the Scarlet Pimpernel, you see him here, you see him there, you see him everywhere. Cinema Ghar: Husain Museum of Art and Cinema opened hours before IFFI '99 did. Naturally the stars glittered here: Shabana, Madhuri Dixit -- and the stars of the painterly firmament too, like Tyeb Mehta and Bal Chhavda. "This is my tribute to Indian cinema from the silence of Dadasaheb Phalke to the dazzle of Madhuri Dixit," says Husain. And Madhuri returns the compliment: "It is a learning experience for me." She also released Husain's book, Art and Cinema, to mark the occasion. The paintings on display depict Husain's fascination with popular cinema. But what impresses the most are the artist's photographs, titled "Culture of the Streets", which has amazing billboards juxtaposed with city life.

The three-storey building, set among large boulders in Banjara Hills, is not just another museum of Husain's personal collections; it has a well-stocked library of books on art, cinema, music, dance, and computers. And its first exhibition features black and white photographs by director Bimal Roy. Husain will host a festival of "specially made" five-minute silent films every year with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh for the best entry at the 40-seat theatre in the museum.

Real Life Battles
There were silent wars in the background. You could see the clenched teeth. Director of the Festival Malti Sahai and Andhra Pradesh State Film Development Corporation (APSFDC) Managing Director G. Kishan Rao have been locked in an unseemly Centre-state conflict even before the start of IFFI '99. While the directorate of film festivals welcomed the red carpet and hospitality rolled out by the APSFDC it was reluctant to make available invitations and passes, forcing Rao to issue identity cards and passes on his own. But he kept it a low intensity conflict because an embarrassed Naidu cautioned him and other state officials from doing anything that could mar the reputation and prestige of the state.

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