MFF 2012 diary: DAY 2

Germany meets bollywood Dhobi Ghat director Kiran Rao posed for shutterbugs as she chatted with the mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz.

1 Germany meets bollywood Dhobi Ghat director Kiran Rao posed for shutterbugs as she chatted with the mayor of Hamburg, Olaf Scholz. The director watched Throw Of Dice at the Jamshed Bhabha Hall at the NCPA. Ranvir Shorey, Vikram Aditya Shukla also watched the film. During a speech a little while later, the mayor thanked the NCPA as well as the Max Mueller Bhavan for digitally restoring the fragile print.

Kiran-Rao-poses-for-the-shutterbugs

2 Glitch of the day The organisers could not arrange for the English subtitles for a few foreign-language films at Inox. A few miffed delegates were seen venting their frustration on Twitter.

3 Finally a formula Defying expectations, the ticketing system implemented at the Inox screens worked surprisingly well for the delegates. For a change, the crowd queued up, waiting to pick up tickets, and walked in stress free. Those who watched the 8.30 pm show of the Bond documentary Everything Or Nothing, even got seats 10 minutes before the screening. The fact that a lot of people had left by mid-day probably explains why.

4 No takers for the centenary Franz Osten's Throw Of Dice, which was the silent film that was restored for the celebrations of the centenary of Indian cinema, was screened with a live German orchestra. With the title of the film, the orchestra started belting out the tune of 'Mere haatho mein nau nau chudiya hai' from the film Chandni (1989). The auditorium erupted in laughter and the audience started clapping with glee. While the experience was interesting, most of the viewers felt that the music didn’t really go with the film’s visuals. But for a film made in 1929, it was totally worth it.