We focused less on stars, more on brilliant speakers: Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple

How was this year’s festival?

Namita Gokhale: It had the usual mix of rich diversity — many voices, many opinions and many senior writers in the 10th anniversary of the festival. We also had 30 languages and people from around the world. Best of all, the audiences were engaged. There were many young brilliant people this time. All I can say is that I am satisfied with the way this year’s festival rolled out. And I am already sitting and taking notes for next year. I am also making a note of all kinds of minor criticisms that people had — programming and logistical — and because this festival means so much to so many people in India and around the world, I feel it is my sacred responsibility to put in everything for the next festival. I don’t believe in bigger or better but the next festival can have all those qualities of intelligent stimulation, sharing and community that this one had.

William Dalrymple: I think it was a really good year. We had three Booker winners, and we had slightly less famous names, but they were brilliant speakers. There was less star wattage. I went slightly offhand and included people who I knew were really good, but were not particularly famous, especially the historians. There have been very few duds. In a line-up of more than 60 speakers, 30 were great, 20 have been really good, and four to five were not exceptional. That’s again just my list. The music, this year, was exceptional. Last year was the worst, I was really disappointed.

There was the general idea that the festival was a bit low-key this year. Do you agree?

Namita Gokhale: I don’t think so. We had Paul Betty who won the Man Booker Prize this time. Zee JLF was his first public engagement after winning the award.

We also had Perumal Murugan, Taslima Nasreen, Richard Flanagan, Alan Hollinghurst and many others.

William Dalrymple: There were names like Linda Colley, Emma Sky, and A.N. Wilson this year. They are not famous, but are brilliant. I can accept that we had less starry names, but no, not low-key. It was electrifying. And, we can now afford to do that; we don’t need names to attract people anymore. Also, it’s not always the case that the best names are the best of speakers.

Has demonetization affected the film festival?

Namita Gokhale: No, I don’t think so. It has affected book sales, but I also think that bookshops have done reasonably well this year. I haven’t really asked them how well they have fared compared to previous years. I know that demonetization has meant that several of our sponsors have moved away, but I don’t handle the commercial aspect of the festival, so I won’t be able to give the details.

William Dalrymple: (It has affected us) very badly. Sanjoy Roy usually looks at these details, but we will not make a massive loss. We will make a tiny loss. We were set to make a profit, which keeps us going. And that makes a difference. Two big sponsors (Ford and Google), who have been with us for four to five years and are a big support for the festival, pulled out at the last minute. Luckily I don’t have to worry about that, but we’ve had a tough year.

As the festival director, how do you think you can insulate the festival from shocks like demonetization?

Namita Gokhale: What we are doing is not strictly a commercial enterprise. I only think about how we can improve our programming. That’s my brief. William Dalrymple and I share the programming part. He has a particular vision and so do I. We enact it and try to ensure that there is no overlap. For me, it is all about ideas and ideas don’t need money.

What can we expect next year?

Namita Gokhale: I am thinking really hard. For next year, I want to search in every language for younger and more radical authors. This year we had Anuradha Beniwal in the Hindi sphere. She represents a new kind of voice, a new kind of writing. I don’t have any particular theme in mind for next year. The festival just got over. I will now listen into people’s comments and I will think about it and then the themes will emerge on their own. Next year, you will see some big names like Mario Vargas Llosa, Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Nogozi Adichie and Rohinton Mistry. 

William Dalrymple: (People have been dying to know if you will ever get Haruki Murakami?) I’ve written to Murakami twice, but both times he’s told me that he doesn’t like doing festivals. I’d love to have him, but he is not a writer I can charm personally. The writers who’ve promised to come next year include Mario Vargas Llosa, William Boyd, Neil Gaiman, Michael-Payton from Monty Python, Julian Bond, Chimamanda Adichie, Zadie Smith, Richard Ford, Teju Cole, Junot Diaz, Niall Ferguson, PJ Harvey, Amy Tan, Rohinton Mistry and Peter Frankopan.