BIFFes: Confusion over film screenings, reschedules

Moving picture

With moderate footfall, confusion over the screening of movies at various screens continued on Monday, the 4th day of the 11th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) at the Orion Mall.

The screening of Hattrick Hero Shivaraj Kumar-Kiccha Sudeep-starrer, The Villain, was rescheduled after one hour quoting the technical reasons. Subsequently, this delayed the screening of other movies scheduled for other screens. Long queues were a common sight for all the movies, and announcements were made continuously by the organisers on the rescheduling of movie timings and screens.

Movie lovers were irked by the organisers. They said a lack of planning has led to confusion.

“Half an hour we were made to wait in front of the screen. All of a sudden they rescheduled the screenings. Now, we cannot rush to other screens. We don’t know whether we will be allowed inside,” Ramesh, a visitor told DH.

A few visitors were annoyed by the attitude of the volunteers and even alleged manhandling. This led to a heated argument and exchange of words, which was resolved by the intervention of police personnel.

“The volunteers don’t have the patience to deal with the visitors. First the organisers should train them to behave properly with the visitors. I have seen many instances, where these people manhandling the visitors who have come to inquire about the rescheduled movies,” said Rajkumar, another visitor.

Krishnan, a senior volunteer admitted that it’s indeed tough to manage the crowd and requested the visitors to bear with the inconvenience. “The rescheduling of the movies is happening due to technical issues. I request the audience to bear with us. Clear instructions have been given to all the volunteers, however, we will look into the issue.”