Cine lovers spoilt for choice as Biffes makes Mysuru debut

Registration touches 700, expected to reach 800 in a day or two

Even though commercial films are completely out of bounds for a week at Inox on M G Road here, parallel films and path-breaking award winning films slated for screening as a part of the eighth edition of Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes)-2016, did not fall behind in wooing cine lovers (registered persons only) to the multiplex on the second day of the fest.

Though the fest was opened on Thursday, simultaneously in Benglauru and Mysuru, the inaugural screening of ‘Thithi’ a Kannada film was held at Kalamandira in Mysuru. In all, 140 films will be screened up to February 4, simultaneously at Inox and PVR Cinemas at Orion Mall, Bengaluru.

What assumes significance here is, for the first time in the Biffes history, the festival has been extended to Mysuru. Moreover, the valedictory session is scheduled to be held in the city on February 5.

Unlike commercial films, the USP of which will be judged by its weekend response, the films screened in the Biffes are judged by its social impact. It was evident with young and old alike who strutted towards the screens on Friday morning, showing equal enthusiasm to make a choice among a list of films slated for the day.

Among the 20 films screened during the day, two were Kannada — ’Chiguru’ directed by Naganatha Madhava Rao Joshi and ‘Rangitharanga’ by Anup Bhandari. The rest were other language and foreign language films, including Odiya, Malayalam, Bengali, Chinese, Sri Lanka, Iran among others.

‘Chiguru’ is based on social malaise, where the son of a cobbler faces hardships in pursuing his education. It also throws light on how the have’s have been exploiting the have not’s.

For many, it seemed ‘Rangitharanga’ to be a second outing, as the film which comes under popular film category, had a good run in the recent past.

Registration wise too, the numbers are increasing, with about 200 new registrations received between Thursday and Friday, taking the total to 700. Prior to the launch of the festival, 500 movie buffs had enrolled, for a privilege for watching the films. The numbers are expected to touch 800 in a day or two.

The registration fee is fixed at Rs 600 for general public and Rs 300 for students, members of film societies and film fraternity. The registration counters are opened both at Information and Public Relations department on Dhanwantri Road and Inox.

Confusion

However, confusion prevailed for a while as the registered viewers were not provided with information book before the screening of the movies of the day.

As the books were yet to be brought from Bengaluru, the Information and Public Relations department personnel sought time till afternoon. The books were distributed later.