A few days ago, a friend posted an invite on Facebook. It was an invite from the ministry of information and broadcasting and the directorate of film festivals inviting the public for the 60th national film festival – an event open to the public free of charge.

The invite sounded enticing, as it mention ed details of the opening films, Rituparno Ghosh’s Chitrangada and a 30 minute short film called Timbaktu. The news piece appeared in a national daily and the schedule of the whole festival was also published the following day. After that, not a word appeared on the film festival in the national media. And it was one festival showcasing the finest regional cinema of our country!

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A cinema buff myself, I have a group of friends who love the medium. But ironically not a single one of them had heard of this festival. Of course they have heard of the numerous other film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto and even Goa film fest, but the title of national film festival has still not reached their ears it seems. Most of them mistook it for the national film awards.

Sure, there is a connection – the festival showcases movies that have won the national film awards – but at the end of the day it is a festival showing the best of current crop of films.

At a time when regional cinema is purportedly getting a thrust, the festival that is supposed to show the best of Indian cinema of the current year seems to have somehow lost its meaning, import and charm for the public at large. Maybe the fault lies with the way it has been publicised. Most festivals exist on the way it is marketed. Take, for instance, a recent festival hosted by the Reliance group. It had little in way of authenticity but it had the big names. So it got media coverage.

It’s been two days since the 60th national film festival opened at Siri Fort auditorium, and if there is any media coverage, it has to be very little. And it has obviously escaped my notice.

There are also people who say film festivals in India have lost the main purpose of their existence. Globally, a film festival is an opportunity for filmmakers and the distributors to meet, and also an opportunity for a particular film to acquire more buyers. With the Indian film festivals, the sole purpose for filmmakers and distributors is to showcase their movies.

The festival opened with a powerful movie: Chitrangada. One of the last films made by Rituparno Ghosh, who died recently, the film looks at a man’s journey at defying the society in search of his own happiness. Going against his parents to become a choreographer,  Rudra, the protagonist, chooses to go through a sex change in order to achieve his dream of a family. 

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While a lot was written about the filmmaker after his death and tributes poured out galore – and justifiably at that – unfortunately not much has appeared in the Delhi mainstream media about one of the uber-talented filmmaker’s last creations.

While we are in the midst of celebrating 100 years of cinema in India, at the same time the idea of a national film festival is being ignored.  Maybe the festival has lost its charm, and maybe it’s less hassle to just go and buy the DVD of a film that you can watch in the privacy of your home. But maybe it is also important to come under one platform to encourage the best that India has to offer in cinema. In whatever language that maybe.