BIFFes 16, 2025: The opening, closing, and the team behind the festival

Besides showing films, major film festivals have a grand inaugural ceremony and an equally grand closing ceremony. The venue for the BIFFes 16 inauguration was the lawmakers’ abode, the Vidhan Soudha (Legislative Assembly) ramparts. Invited guests were taken there in big, comfortable cars or coaches. On such occasions, the 5-10 leading personalities that made the festival possible are invited (they invite themselves, to be sure, because they are the hosts themselves) and deliver speeches. On the inaugural day, which was the 1^st of March in this case, the speeches tend to be longer, often up to thirty minutes.

Since Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFes) is a state government-run affair, since its fourth edition, on the make-shift dais were the political bigwigs and BIFFes related who’s who of the state: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister, President of the Karnataka Chalanachitra Academy, Dr. Sadhu Kokila, an actor-singer, who has acted in over 900 films, Kishore Kumar (the late great singer’s namesake), a tall, bald imposing figure, the festival’s brand ambassador, and some 4-5 other political figures. Topics covered were: the history of the festival, significance of cinema in general, and, in Karnataka, in particular, thanks to the organisers (each other) conveyed multiple times by each speaker. Absentees were also thanked for their contributions. An announcement was made by the Chief Minister that Karnataka will set-up its own Film City very soon.

Either before the ceremony or during, a pageant of dance and/or music entertains the audience. At Bengaluru, there was music and singing courtesy two virtuosos, L. Subramaniam, the internationally acclaimed violin player, and playback singer Kavitha Krishnamurthy. Though I have never met Subramaniam, Kavitha and I go back a long way, when she was a student at St. Xavier’s College, and known by her both name Sharda. It was changed to avoid confusion with Sharda, the other playback singer, who was promoted by music director Shankar of Shankar-Jaikishan fame. While Subramaniam wielded the violin like a toy, and even played some of the numbers he had recorded with the late French jazz violin maestro Stephane Grappelli, who passed away in 1997 (I possess and cherish that LP record), Kavitha wowed the audience with the extended version of ‘Limbuda’, from the Hindustani hit film Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. Subramaniam’s grand-daughter joined him in some numbers, playing…what else? the violin.

Almost all speakers spoke in Kannada, the state language of Karnataka, of which Bengaluru is the capital. Only Vidyashankar Jois, the ever-smiling Artistic Director of the festival, interspersed his address with some English. Nobody spike in Hindi. That was only to be expected, because one does not find any signage in Hindi, the national state language, anywhere in the city. There were a few stars present, but all of them were from the southern states and not known to this writer. Mumbai film industry was conspicuous by its absence. No less than the Legislative Assembly grounds were chosen to hold the event, which, if I recall correctly, has been the venue for most, if not all, BIFFes inaugurals. After a time-span of some three hours, the inaugural film, Pyre, was screened, on a makeshift screen. Invitees to the inaugural dinner did not wait to watch it, for that would mean missing out on the dinner, which, besides being an occasion to savour five-star food, also presented an opportunity to network with delegates, both, from India, and abroad. There were quite a few foreign delegates at BIFFes. Absence of Mumbai delegates could be partly attributed to the budget of the festival, which was considerably less than last year. In fact, I was, most likely, the only Mumbai-based personality at the inauguration.

At the closing, which was on the 8^th of March for BIFFes 16, the routine was pretty much the same, except for one major difference: the various juries were introduced and the winners announced. Vidyashankar did this part in English, and rightly so, for, after all, it was an international film festival, and some of the award winners were from other Indian states and countries. There were singers and musicians, who played and sang songs in south Indian languages, probably only in Kannada. A few token announcements were made in English. Some of the majordomos who were present at the inaugural, were missing, because of other, pressing engagements, and a few others took their place. At least one gentleman and one lady chose not to speak at all, which was a very appreciable gesture. Some of the winners were missing, and there could be either or both of these reasons: the festival did not have the budget to flay them from their locations, airfares being what they are, especially when you book last minute; the personalities were themselves unable to come, due to their own personal reasons.

Vidyashankar, Sadhu Kokila and Kishore Kumar

One person has been toiling hard for all 16 years, as Director of the festival, and he goes by the name of Vidyashankar Jois. The first three festivals were minor affairs, but then the government took the festival under its wing, as part of the activities of the Karnataka Chalanachitra (motion picture) Academy (established in 2009). But the Director of BIFFes did not change. There were times when he almost threw up his hands in despair, only to relent and help navigate BIFFes through. A member of FIPRESCI, the international federation of film critics, which has only 40 members in India, and a revered academic, he takes the lion’s share when it comes to credit for the successful organisation of the festival.

This time, in 2025, it seemed impossible for him to put it together, because it was green-lighted only six weeks before the due date. It normally takes six months, not six days, to organise a film festival. And when it came to funds, they were released only in late February, with an unkind cut. Vidyashankar’s never-say-die spirit took the bull by the horns, and the festival went through smoothly. I hope he continues in his position, and the state government gives more time and money for him to put up even better editions in future.

Vidyashankar has been helped in his duties by Anand ‘Andy’ Kannan, who has been heading the hospitality and transport departments, which is a huge task in itself. Andy came on board in the fourth edition, and has always had solutions to complex travel and accommodation problems. When I called him on the phone one day, for a meeting, without ever having met him before, I told him he would recognise me by my hat. He replied, in good humour, “You will recognise me by my bald pate.” He has no hair on his head, but the photo belies his age. I was sure that he is younger than what the photo depicts him to be, but it turned out that he is older in real life.

Although my official hospitality was only for four days, and I shifted from Leroy Grand to a budget hotel for the remaining days of the festival, Andy never let me feel that my hospitality was over. At the very end of the festival, I went to thank Anand for the excellent arrangements of hotels, cars and food and expressed the hope that he would be around if and when I was invited again, for the third time, to BIFFes. He shook his head, “13 years with BIFFes is a long time. I am calling it quits now.” That was bad news. BIFFes will sorely miss him. And so will I. I also hope that Vidyashankar continues to be at the helm. Two losses will be too much for BIFFes, but the Chalanachitra show must go on, since it is show business, after all.

Coverage of BIFFes 16, 2025 continues. Watch this space.