When babudom met Bollywood

On the fifth day of the International Film Festival of India, the beach was too ‘‘common’’ for the CM who’s fast amassing an awed fan following among the delegates and Bollywood presence alike. ‘‘Through this (Aldona-Chorjuvem bridge, about 16 km from the capital, Panjim) they can see we have spruced up Goa’s infrastructure not just in Panjim but in the interiors as well,’’ Parrikar said of his ‘‘statement party’’.

So as the who’s who of Goa’s Cabinet and industry mingled with Director of Film Festivals Neelam Kapur and the rest of her milieu, Parrikar posed for stills and lives with Mani Ratnam and IFFI’s jury members, Milind Gunaji answered questions and Manisha Koirala was caught on camera.

But breaking from the booze-and-food version of parties that’s been a staple at IFFI here, Parrikar also brought in Javed Jaffrey—who, true to the officialdom that threw the party, did a crass mimic of a certain white-haired, pot-bellied, Bhojpuri-speaking minister from the North—the Daksha Sheth contemporary dance troupe, had fireworks and of course, was faced with an acute problem of accommodating almost 500 people, on an arena that could decently accommodate just 250.

For the locals who crowded the periphery in the hope of catching a glimpse of a ‘‘star’’, and who had been denied use of the bridge since Wednesday night (the bridge has been open to the public since mid-September), the night failed to impress.

‘‘There were more babus then Bollywood,’’ said a student, Mario Rodrigues.