Day 03 of Saudi Film Nights is at Delhi’s PVR Director’s Cut, a beautiful location to discuss,
dissect and review cinema and chief guest of the evening is national award filmmaker
Madhur Bhandarkar. The local media is keen to ask him questions about his films but he
declines their queries and focuses on Saudi Nights. Bhandarkar says that collaborations
between different countries are beneficial to all and brings access to locations and actors from
different regions.
Post the screening I am in conversation with Sohyab Godus and he has more insights to offer
in the making of Fever Dream, the only problem is that he is slightly under the weather and
therefore not in his best form. A girl in the audience asks him if he has to do a film with an
Indian actor who would he choose and his eyes sparkle as he answers, ‘Salman Khan’.
Post the event Sohayb all of us are headed to the airport. Sohyab returns home and we arrive
in Hyderabad for the last leg of the festival. The venue is PVR RK Cineplex, our Saudi guest
is the director and cameraman of short film Mashima’s Life and guest of honour Kannada and
Telugu popular star Ragini Dwivedi. Ragini’s new film trailer has just been released and the
local media is excited to see their favourite star.
Post the screening, Saad Tahaitah director of Mashnia’s Life tells us that it was not easy
shooting the senior woman because initially she refused to remove her mask but slowly, as
she developed trust, she opened the floodgates of her heart and shared the dark secrets of her
life.