Delhi International Film Festival 2012

Sharmila Tagore at the Opening Ceremony of Delhi International Film Festival 2012

Delhi International Film Festival(DIFF) - 2012 is being held at the NDMC Convention Centre from 21 - 27 December, 2012. DIFF 2012 is a grand showcase of world cinema in Delhi. I am proud to be a witness to some of the very good films. A few will find mention in the columns of this blog in the coming days. Let's talk about 'Ziyarat' first of all. 

'Ziyarat' (the pilgrimage) is inspired by the internal displacement and mass migration of a complete community of Kashmiri Pandits (Hindus) from their mother land Kashmir, also known as the Paradise on Earth. These innocent people have been struggling for survival for the last 20 years in refugee camps in many locations across India. 'Ziyarat' is one such story of a young Muslim and his wife taking the responsibility of locating his lost friend his wife, who had fled Kashmir to save their lives after the terrorists killed his parents, and adopting their son left behind during the attack in confusion. While the wife, Mariyam assumes the responsibility of raising the young child Posh, the husband Abdul Kadir decides to cancel his trip to the Hajj and prefers to devote all his time in search of his friend Pandit Dina Nath and his wife Girija. His search is endless and he leaves no place in the valley where he doesn't look for his friend. He consistently searches for them for two long years. Pandit Dina Nath as the mouthpiece narrates the history of seven exodus that have taken place in the past 700 years. 

Suresh K. Goswami

The film is a nice amalgam of a nice story line and documentization of reality. It contains the views of real refugees from various camps. The winding up of the story leaves a nice after-taste of message of love for humanity, of being human, and also draws out the real essence of indulging in Hajj. The film also echoes the opinion that all religions teach peace. Overall, a worth-watching film definitely! The director Suresh K. Goswami, leading CEO/Managing Director of many hard core engineering multi-nationals across the globe during his career, quit his job in 2009 and took to creative writing as his only vocation. He is the screenplay and dialogue writer, producer, director, cinematographer and also the financier of the film.