Missing Goa...Rockin' Goa (and IFFI)

Don't know why and how, but I was reading this morning while listening to some jazz, and a Latin piece just reminded me of Goa, of all places. See, I fell absolutely in love with Goa when I visited. I stayed at the Cidade De Goa for a few nights, and the beach there was absolutely stunning. Latin jazz was played frequently at one of the restaurants (the one overlooking the beach was my favorite, and we even saw a show by a person who could do wonders with fire!). I know this is beyond the scope of Bollywood now and into the hospitality management space, but I shall digress nevertheless to point out that Cidade De Goa is an absolutely amazing place to vacation in. Absolutely recommended! Bliss...

On to the Bollywood connections. I thought of the track Rockin' Goa (below) from Dil Chahta Hai (2001), and Saif Ali Khan, Christine, and Aakaash from a rather hilarious point in the film. Very cool.



On to a more current Bollywood connection. The International Film Festival of India kicked off today in Goa. Shah Rukh Khan was charged with inaugurating the event (there was a good deal of controversy surrounding why Amitabh Bachchan was not invited this year and how he responded, but I would rather not go back to that saga). Strangely, there is no mainstream Bollywood film being shown this year at the event. Here is a piece on that:

Last year, the mainstream section of the film festival showcased blockbusters such as Krrish, Lage Raho Munnabhai, and Rang De Basanti and there were huge serpentine queues to watch these films.

Apparently, the perennial debate over whether popular Bollywood cinema should be referred to as ‘mainstream’ cinema or whether there is no need to differentiate cinema across the country could well have been one reason why the Directorate decided to go ahead and make the festival conspicuous by the absence of the usual Bollywood glam and focus.

Even the Indian Panorama segment which usually showcases such mainstream films is devoid of any popular blockbuster Hindi film. The two Hindi films that will be showcased in this segment are Sameer Hanchate’s Gafla and Bhavna Talwar’s controversial film Dharm.

One of the complains of the organizing committee is that many Bollywood producers were unwilling to provide subtitles for their films.

Seriously, if the bit about the availability of [good quality] subtitles is true, that a pretty serious breach of professionalism on the part of the producers. There is nothing worse than shunning outsiders from watching films, and in effect, that seems to be what has happened here, IF the report is true. Shame.