Rajkumar or Kasaravalli? IFFI catalogue not too sure(IFFI DIARY)

Nov 27, 2006, 10:53 GMT

Panaji, Nov 27 (IANS) The main catalogue of the 37th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) is a true measure of how mishap prone the event has been -- the photograph on the page devoted to late Kannada thespian Rajkumar, to whom IFFI is paying a special homage, is of another Kannada great, Girish Kasaravalli!

Kasaravalli is not only alive and kicking, he is also due to arrive in Panaji to present his latest film 'Nayi Neralu'. Apart from the red faces that this fiasco has left behind, it also goes to show how little the people running the show here know about south Indian cinema.

CEO of Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), which produced the catalogue, issued a correction in the IFFI daily, but the damage has already been done. Unfortunately, ESG, a nodal body set up by the Goa government to turn the state into an entertainment hub, is beset by a lack of vision.

It has reduced the ongoing festival to a complete mess for both delegates and journalists and seems bent upon sullying the fair name of Goa as well. The bad publicity that this beautiful state is attracting as a result of the ESG's mismanagement certainly cannot boost either inbound tourism or the cause of cinema in the long run.

© 2006 Indo-Asian News Service