Much thought and debate preceded the 19th International Film Festival of Kerala, as the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy went ahead with its plans to change the way the festival played out, as per the recommendations of the Adoor Gopalakrishnan committee.
Delegates were told to book their seats in advance and that they would not be allowed to sit on the floors, breaking a popular ‘tradition’ of the film festival.
But on the D-Day, it all came undone as the ticket booking servers crashed and delegates queuing up to collect their booked tickets came face to face with blank faces at the counters. Sensing that the organisers were on the defensive, after weeks of debates on ‘discipline’, the irate crowd pushed their way in to the theatres on Saturday morning.
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Many who had come to collect their tickets in advance on Friday evening had sensed that something had gone wrong, when they found their names not reflected in the servers.
“The servers are located in Europe. We were hopeful of getting it done and were at it till 4 a.m. on Saturday. But then the technical team there asked for one more day to make the system work. So, we decided to do away with the changes this year,” says Rajeevnath, Chairman of the academy.
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Before the opening show at Kairali, he came to personally apologise to the crowd, who cheered to the fact that the new controls would no longer be there.
He appealed to the crowd to avoid sitting on the aisles, to prevent a stampede in case emergency situations arose.
But many who had booked for the show in advance and were left waiting outside the door were not ready to hear the words, as they soon filled every available inch of the floor.