The Hindu : New Delhi News : High drama at film festival

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

High drama at film festival

Four days into it, the Osian Cinefan Asian Film Festival in Delhi seems to be witnessing high drama not just onscreen but off it too. If the inaugural day saw the security a little too tight for anyone's comfort, the Capital's first film memorabilia auction on Sunday saw more than just good artwork go down the hammer.

Already seething with anger over the poor screening and introduction of his film on the first day of the festival, well-known director T.V.Chandran apparently decided to take the steam off during the auction. A visibly angry and upset Chandran did not just bid but also ended up in an altercation with the Osian Chairman, Neville Tuli, when asked to leave. Chandran's film "Kathavaseshan'' (Epilogues to a Life Lived) was screened at the Siri Fort Auditorium No. 3 at 8-30 on Saturday night and opened to a near empty house.

What seems to have irked the director even more is the fact that none of the Cinefan officials was present to introduce him or the film.

"He started complaining about his film not being screened properly apart from bidding just for fun. When Neville Tuli tried to calm him down, he got agitated even more. He was eventually made to leave with the help of the guards,'' said a Cinefan official.

While Mr. Chandran was not available for comment on Tuesday, his disappointment over the poor response to his film's screening is clearly evident. And while Cinefan may call it a one-off thing, there were mutters of dissent from other filmmakers too.-- Lakshmi B. Ghosh

-- Lakshmi B. Ghosh

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