Scathing condemnation from his colleagues for questioning the Indian government's expenditure on international film festivals notwithstanding, producer Sheetal Talwar has gone ahead and filed a Right To Information (RTI) petition requesting details on where and how government money is use to fund what Talwar calls the industry folk's "flights of fancy…business class" in the garb of promoting Indian cinema.
Says Sheetal Talwar, "I seriously believe our presence at global festivals is a waste of time and money. So my RTI poses these questions – A. How much money was spent by the NFDC towards the expenses for the Pavilion, travel and the India party at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012? B. How was the guest list drawn, how were the invitees selected and what was the list of attendees, who finally attended? C. Who were the Indian officials and delegates for whom NFDC paid for the travel? D. From which budgetary head of the consolidated accounts were these payments made? E. Which airline was used by the delegates sponsored and paid for by NFDC to travel? F. What specific deals and treaties were signed by NFDC at the Cannes Film Festival 2012?"
Reacting to Anurag Kashyap's acerbic comments Talwar asks, "Why is Anurag Kashyap reacting so vehemently and personally? I do not recollect speaking about him at all. Why is he not specifically addressing the issues I brought up of – A. Wastage of money of the government at this time when there is an austerity drive. B. Only one film being in official selection Miss Lovely. C. The fact that the party was not attended by any significant heavy hitter's from the US or UK market."
Kashyap has also alleged that Talwar bought shame to the Indian film industry when last year his Mausam couldn't reach the Toronto Film festival as per schedule.
Explains Talwar, "As far as Toronto and Mausam are concerned, I publicly apologized for the exclusion, as we did not get the Indian Air Force's clearance in time. Anurag also thinks I was not invited to the India Party at Cannes. Sorry to disappoint him but I was invited. And I'd be happy to share both the invite and the pre-invite email with him. I attended for ten minutes, saw the joke we were making and moved to Monte Carlo with friends."
Concludes Talwar, "My RTI that has gone on Friday to the NFDC and the I&B ministry will throw light on the amount spent and the expenses incurred by the various government bodies towards their Cannes visit as compared with the actual deals and achievements. Let's wait for the reply. I think it's time the custodians of Indian cinema stopped partying on government money."
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