‘Film festival good platform to watch varied genres, movies’

Nagpur: Unfazed by the low turnout of audience to watch their films, actors, directors and filmmakers at the ongoing Marathi film festival ‘Maay Marathi’ said that it afforded an opportunity to the audience in tier two cities to watch movies that would otherwise not be released in their cities.

At an open forum held at Panchasheel theatre, Ramdaspeth, on Wednesday, where actor Jayant Gadekar, director Nishita Keni and actor-director Pramod Pawar were present, the trio expressed their views on the necessity of organizing film festivals. “Netflix, Hotstar and Amazon offer a comprehensive pick but they are very selective about their content. Film festivals are the best platform for cinema buffs to catch up on a variety of genres and films,” Keni said.

Remembering the days when regional cinema had many viewers in the city, Gadekar, who hails from Nagpur, said, “Digital platforms have changed the way we watch films. But this too is a phase which will pass. Marathi cinema at the moment is receiving high acclaim and I feel the industry should take advantage of this by releasing such films even outside the state.”

With his debut directorial film ‘Truck Bhar Swapan’ being screened on Wednesday, Pawar said he was happy that around fifty people had come to watch it. “People who watch films at such festivals make a difference as they talk and discuss it and create an awareness about the film.

“Many of the films screened at festivals are those which otherwise do not get theatre release. I feel film festivals should be appreciated by the audience as it can change the perspective about cinema and its quality.”

Disappointed with the presence of an average of seventy people for the screenings, Sameer Nafde, executive president of Nirzar Film Club which organized the festival, said, “I was expecting at least 1,000 registrations. But maybe people found season ticket at Rs700 a bit expensive.”

The festival showed 25 films and had 35 screenings with five films being shown each day. “All films were latest releases and had been hand-picked so that the festival will have varied genres and show works of a large number of directors. There was a good star presence too,” he said.

The festival will conclude on Thursday with the screening of Madhuri Dixit-starrer Bucket List, directed by Tejas Deoskar, being the closing film. The director, who hails from the city, will be present for an open forum at 7pm.