Written by Vaishnavi Gujar
“I come from Chennai especially to attend the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) and watch the movies of my choice. However, due to road closures for Bajaj Pune Grand Tour, commuting has become difficult and I cannot travel comfortably between places,” said Sudhakar, a film enthusiast.
For Karve Nagar resident Divyashree Kavatkar, barricades and road closures meant she had to walk to the site. “We went off the back roads and couldn’t turn as planned, which made it quite difficult to get to the festival,” he said.
As Pune’s iconic cycling event cycled from Goodluck Chowk to Deccan Bus Stand on January 19, and roads in Shivajinagar and Deccan were closed and traffic diverted, PIFF felt some unwanted side effects. An organizer said there was only a 60 percent capacity crowd for the afternoon shows at PVR, The Pavillion and E-Square, the festival’s two key venues.
Some audience members said they had missed the afternoon shows. Others compared notes about how they had made special efforts to attend major movie screenings that afternoon. “Like me, many people came early in the morning to avoid problems on the road because we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to watch the movies,” said a movie buff.
“The crowd today is noticeably less compared to the previous days. Earlier there was a lot of excitement and it was difficult to get seats, but today there is not so much struggle. This could be due to the cycle tour, so many people may have missed the screenings. Internationally renowned films are screened here, which is a rare opportunity for local audiences. But the travel restrictions between the Pavilion and E Plaza during the tour could become a serious inconvenience for film lovers,” said Bhaskar, a filmmaker.
After the roads opened for the night, audiences poured in, and the previous day’s barricades and traffic detours gave way to discussions of stories and performances.