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This was the biggest IFFLA so far. Last year was a turning point in my life about the art of film-making and meeting the film-makers. They are human.

This year i learnt, they are us.

Meeting Sriram Raghavan, Sudhir Mishra, Kundan Shah, Shashank Ghosh, Sanjay Routroy, Manish Acharya, Shivajee Chandrabhushan, Revathy within a space of 3 days and having lengthy chats with them all, made me believe they are us. They are not some demi-gods who run away at the sight of a cinema fanatic and give elaborated interviews about the face of cinema. They are those who are changing the face of the cinema and believe me quite a few do not like to speak in the press, quite a few do not want their face attached to their name. Fame is not what they are looking for…nope.

Sudhir Mishra: I had just landed in LA and was hanging out with oz at the arclights and i hear him say Sudhir Mishra..i say…holy shit…my mouth won’t open, my calf’s start trembling, all of a sudden i have sweaty palms. I want to go and greet him but my mouth won’t open. I want to go and shake his hands but my hand won’t move. I want to breathe out, but i aint breathig in. Sudhir Mishra is a true charismatic figure. Every move of his looks like in purpose. Everytime he opens his mouth knowledge exudes. I for that matter anyone was soo much in awe with him including the rest of the filmmakers. Mad respect to him.

Sriram Raghavan: He is such a kid at heart. Full of energy, exuberance and the “bhook” for knowledge. Easily approachable, more easily lovable. He is so humble that you are shameful of yourself. Genuinely interested in what one is saying. Waits for you to complete before he starts speaking. This is no mean achievement as most of were drunk and would stutter to finish our statement. He is true fan of cinema. Can talk for endless nights about cinema, anything and everything about cinema and more. I am in complete awe and totally love Sriram.

Sanjay Routroy: Was introduced to him as the producer of Johnny Gaddar. Wow, thanks sir for pushing such kind of a film. Then we started having a beer or two and started talking about movies and directors, in between i was hearing him say ” Anurag”, “Vishal”, “Diwakar”…i went..Sir..what all other movies have you worked on

1. Paanch
2. Makdee
3. Matrubhoomi
4.Khosla Ka Ghosla
5.Johnny Gaddar
6.Shaurya

Holy fucking shit….”mind blowing”…geez…Sanjay jee, you have been producing all these and we still havent heard about you…god damn it….he likes to be in the background..and what a special man he is…he talks with you by putting his arm around your shoulder…he asks you if he can buy you a beer as he is going to the bar…humble..better than humble…with a solid knowledge of the business around it…IMPRESSED…sir..he has a midas touch..no doubt…we need to back producers like Sanjay…we need to thank producers like Sanjay…what a man….

Kundan Shah: For me Kundan Shah equals janne bhi do yaaro and Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa….i do not even want to talk about anything else…while we were hanging out at the patio of Arclights…all of a sudden everyone rose up…there was a “paltan” 5-6 of them coming in together, exchanging pleasantries, Anurag gets up from the chair he was sittign across from me and wishes a couple of them…the only face i could remember was Revathy and Shashank Ghosh….somebody tells, the others are Rahul Dholakia, Ayush Raina and Kundan Shah…holy shit it is Kundan Shah…i couldnt muster courage to go and talk the ‘the” man….Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is in my top 5….i just couldnt muster up enough “gudda” to go and say “Hi”….so, i pretend i am cocky…wrong choice….I see dabba openign up with Shahshank Ghosh…i go and stand next to them and start asking him about Quick Gun Murugan…he lights up..starts tellign anecdotes about it…tells me he felt nice wen he saw a bit of it in Om Shanti Om..and he was genuine about it…plain and simple…had a conversation with him for the next 15-20 mins, untill he asked for a private spot to meditate…

Walk up to Kundan Shah and introduce myself, the usual questions later…we light up..Vijay comes and invites Kundan to sit at a table and …bham…questions..answers…questions..answers..flying left right…but, the point being..never felt i was talking to Kundan shah…fuck my cockiness…geeez..how people like me behave in public just to get over their nervousness….we ended up talking to Kundan for more than an hour…i will never forget the experience…it was “mind blowing”..

Shivajee Chandrabhushan: The funniest guy/filmmaker at IFFLA hands down..their is never a moment of boredom when you are around him…felt with warmth that makes you believe that you have known him for the past 15 years…as if we were playing “golis” or “Gilli danda”….watched his Frozen….i liked it…i really did….apart from it being “the best” shot movie in the indian cinema( atleast for me)…the story was very unique and it made you think and catch hold of the director ASAP and debate..argue..ask questions..give your own interpretations…we talked about it for more than an hour…that is good enough for me…if a film makes me think and debate about it…it is a good film in my books..as simple as that..and shivajee was able to do that…moreover..he also got a special mention for Frozen at IFFLA….

In all this milieu, we often forget the work that goes behind a festival like IFFLA…it has grown manifolds from last year…this year was huge…and eeven the cancellation of the tribute night with Madhuri wouldnt deter the spirits of people behind IFFLA…and why are they doing this? Just for the love of cinema…remember its a non-profit org. Bows to Christina and team….IFFLA 2008 was just out of the world and the idea of housing all the filmmakers in one mansion…well what can i say…a blessing for cine-fanatics…the films get over..you go for an after party at the filmmakers house and dont come back home untill 7 AM next morning..filled with knowledge…cinema knowledge….felt like i met Cinema….