Book fair to attract movie buffs

turning pages

The ‘20th New Delhi World Book Fair’ will delight not only book lovers, but movie buffs also. The nine-day event, begining February 25 at Pragati Maidan, will have 100 years of Indian cinema as its focus.

A special pavilion will exhibit around 300 select books on Indian cinema. There will also be panel discussions, book launches and workshops on film appreciation, besides this, screenings of films adapted from various literary works will also be a highlight of the event.

According to M A Sikandar, director, National Book Trust, which is organising the fair, cinema and literature are inseparable and hence the occasion is perfect to celebrate 100 years of Indian cinema. “The focus will be on books and adaptation of various books on screen. Book and cinema have an enduring relationship. Almost all good and classic films are based on literature. Such adaptations have given us some of the finest moments in the Indian cinematic tradition. By the turn of the year, we will be celebrating the centenary year of Indian cinema. And the same will be the focus of the fair also,” he said.

A specially designed pavilion on the theme of Indian cinema in hall number 7E of the venue will look at the unique relationship of cinema and literature. Besides, film critics, students of cinema and media as well as cinema connoisseurs will participate in the biggest book carnival of Afro-Asian region. Various discussions on the theme will be held with participation of personalities like Javed Akhtar and wife Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, Deepti Naval and Anees Azmi.

Another major attraction of the fair that will have participation of 1,300 exhibitors at 2,500 stalls from 30 countries, is going to be Delhi pavilion celebrating 100 years of the City as the national capital. The pavilion will showcase Delhi in the last 100 years through various books and discussions on the subject.

The fair will also remember Rabindranath Tagore by exhibiting books written by him and on him.

“To commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Tagore, his rare books and replica of rare books will be on exhibition at Tagore Pavilion,” informed Sikandar.

With an aim to engage children in the habit of book reading, a special pavilion will be set up where activities and programmes for kids will be held.

Also, seminar on children’s literature, workshops and contemporary books for children will be showcased.

This year, the nine-day fair will also feature cultural programmes like lok geet and lok nritya from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, ghazals, qawwali, magic and puppet shows and live bands every day from 6 to 8 pm. A day-long seminar on e-publishing will be also held

Held every two years, the fair will be inaugurated by Kapil Sibal, minister of Human Resource Development and Manoj Das, writer and professor of English at the Sri Aurobindo International University, Puducherry.

An entry ticket of Rs 20 will be available at the venue till 7.30 pm. However, school students can visit the fair free of cost by carrying a photo identity card.