It’s game-on for movie buffs this Iffi

Nida Sayed
Panaji: From “strategic” planning to making “contacts”, the International Film Festival of India (Iffi) brings out the game-on mode in every film buff. These enthusiasts spill the beans on how to watch the maximum number of movies in a limited time.
Panaji-based Parag Chotai begins his “planning” the minute he receives his film schedule.After researching and shortlisting the films he wants to watch, he makes use of the advance booking facility. “The moment the clock strikes 8am, I book my movie tickets. I also make it a point to book tickets for movies only playing at Inox . This is because Kala Academy has a seating capacity for 900 people and no matter how good the film is, seats are always available there. In this way, I always have three tickets to screenings at Inox and simply walk into Kala Academy for the fourth film,” says the 30-year-old.
Chotai claims to have watched a total of 25 films last year and intends to watch double the number, this time around.
Smooth talking Maanav Shah says he “flirts his way” into watching more movies. “The moment I walk into the Inox courtyard, I take a good look around and smile at all the girls. I always walk up to the first girl that returns my smile and strike a conversation with her and her friends. I then convince these girls to spare me one of their tickets. Apart from that, I also sweet talk the girls at the ticket counter and get extra tickets. In this way, I manage to watch at least five to seven movies a day, and managed to watch over 50 films at last year’s Iffi.”
Porvorim-based Shaan Khan spends more than 12 hours of his day at the Iffi venue. “From the first show till the last, I make it a point to watch every film on my schedule,” he says.
“Iffi provides a wonderful opportunity to watch films from different parts of the world and we get a glimpse of their world through cinema. I form relationships with people based on our common interest in films. Many a times, they offer me their tickets as a goodwill gesture. I also have a lot of friends in the media industry. Since media personnel were entitled to five tickets, they often give me tickets to their films, as they have to rush for press conferences or interviews, sometimes. I easily end up watching 30 to 40 movies this way,” says the 40-year-old.
(Names changed to protect their identity)