Bangalore lit-fest 2.0 opens to a perfect script

The second edition of the three-day Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF) got underway on Friday at Crowne Plaza hotel in Electronics City, with book lovers descending in droves to meet their favourite authors and celebrities.

Acclaimed writers, poets, historians, Bollywood heavyweights: there was something for everyone.

On the inaugural day, bookworms got to attend sessions like Helatthena kela: Kambararondhige Sahithya Sallapa, an interaction with Kannada author and Jnanpith awardee Chandrashekara Kambara; and for those interested in history, there was William Dalrymple, who enthralled audiences with his take on Princes and Painters in Mughal India.

But lit-fests are no longer about writers and books; it is also about glamour and Bollywood, which made its presence felt in BLF as well.

If poet and lyricist Gulzar managed to create a commotion while taking a seat in the audience, actor Farhan Akhtar, lyricist Prasoon Joshi and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra would have made author Kambara, historian Ramachandra Guha, Bas Boettcher, Tillman Rammstead and other special invitees envious over the reception the trio received, because they had received only a few polite claps when they had taken to the stage earlier in the day.

‘Has Indian Cinema finally woken up to biopics?’ was the topic of discussion given to the Bhaag Milkha Bhaag team comprising of Farhan Akhtar, Prasoon Joshi and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, who arrived fashionably late. Producer and director Mehra began with a candid admission: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag was not really a true biopic. It was “inspired” by the true life story of Milkha Singh, but not every incident that tugged at your heart or made you weep was real.

“There is a Milkha Singh inside each of us that the movie connects to,” Mehra said. Prasoon Joshi, who wrote the movie script, said it was the Milkha’s struggle that appealed to him, and his endeavour was to weave a story around it.

The audience soaked it all in rapt attention. The trio, accustomed as they to mass adulation, wouldn’t have expected to receive such a noncritical admiration at a literature festival. When the stars left the stage, the mob followed. Just a few stayed back for the next session, Talking Couture: Chronicling Fashion by Wendell Rodricks and Prasad Bidapa.