NEW DELHI, JAN 15: It was director's day out at the International Film Festival (IFFI) on Friday. Sanjay Leela Bhansali, with earring and green kurta, just asked the packed auditorium for his Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, which, surprisingly, was part of the Indian Panorama, to enjoy. Krutin Patel, the director of ABCD, was given the honour of screening his much-talked-about film in the smallest auditorium. Neena Gupta, the director of television's Saans, looking very businesslike in blazer and jeans, was seen whispering into a yellow mobile. John Mathan, the man behind Aamir Khan's Sarfarosh, was seen waiting for his wife to turn up before going in to watch Majid Majidi's Rang-e-Khoda.But the day belonged to Aparna Sen, ever-beautiful in green salwar kameez and brown suede jacket, whose Paromitaar Ek Din moved a largely Bengali audience to tears with its evocative rendition of Tagore songs at crucial moments in the movie which examines the relationship between Paromita and Sonaka. Paromita divorces Sonaka's son and remarries but the bond between them survives the break-up: when Sonaka, played movingly by Aparna Sen, is dying, it is Paromita (Rituparna Sengupta doing a subtle job of the role as in Dahan) who comes to nurse her.From the utensils Sonaka, a widow, eats in, to the bed she lies dying in, Aparna Sen has watched over every detail with loving attention. The film was released in Calcutta on January 7 and is running in three halls. It can only happen at IFFI that the film was screened at the unearthly hour of 8.30 am. on a winter morning and it is a tribute to Sen's many admirers all of whom, including TV actress Rita Bhaduri and fellow director Amol Palekar, came up to congratulate her that they turned up in such large numbers and were heard humming the songs. It can also happen only with good cinema in India that Sen had to ask friends rather than the Directorate of Film Festivals to organise a repeat screening for those who couldn't get to see it.Gremlins at workIt is a mystery, of course, as to how the programming is done. Though Damien O'Donnell's East is East, on public demand, is being screened again at 10.30 p.m. on Sunday, not all other early morning films have that good fortune. Krutin Patel's film ABCD, which features Sheetal Sheth, a New York film school acting graduate (who was also in Vishal Bhandari's A Pocketful of Dreams) was screened at about the same time as Paromitaar Ek Din. Patel, whose day job is as manager, Customer Service, Food Network, is a graduate from New York film school, has got good buzz on his film, which he has yet to show in the US.He would have loved to show his film in the Asian Competition segment but apparently his status as a Non-Resident Indian (he hates to be called that) doesn't qualify him as Asian enough. Well, since he was born in Ahmedabad, maybe the judges should reconsider. In fact, the process of selecting films for IFFI will always remain a mystery to mere mortals.
