Goan filmmaker misses red carpet, says IFFI didn’t inform him

PANAJI - The organisers of the 40th International Film festival of India (IFFI) came in for a major embarrassment after award-winning Goan filmmaker Laxmikant Shetgaonkar couldn’t walk the red carpet here because no one communicated to him about it.

“We would have loved to walk the red carpet not only because it’s beautiful but it would have inspired many Goan filmmakers. We were not informed about the red carpet. No one communicated to us,” Shetgaonkar, whose film “Poltodcho Munis” got rave reviews at the Toronto film festival, told reporters here Thursday.

Incidentally, Shetgaonkar has been appointed a member of a committee formed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni to resolve organisational issues of the IFFI.

His name was short-listed on Nov 24 to walk the red carpet. When contacted, Rajendra Talak, a key member of the red carpet committee, said: “We tried to contact him on phone but he was not available. He was not picking up my phone.”