Jai called Mr. Gautham Vasudev Menon and informed him about Mohan Ji and the offer to participate in the film festival. Mr. Gautham’s remark was classic. He stated that it is a public festival to which anyone can be invited and participate. And he made it clear that he had no reservations about accepting Mohan Ji.
The days were coming to an end, pressure on the team was increasing, expenses were mounting, and still, the entire team was working day and night.
Pasu and Yoga teamed up and created fantastic promotional videos. They approached celebrities, ordinary citizens, and government officials to talk about the Ooty Short Film Festival and its significance to the Nilgiri district. This campaign effort covered every nook and corner of the district and received a positive review.
Meanwhile, Stalin and Padu wrote thousands of letters to colleagues, universities, and institutions throughout Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka. This promotion is intended to encourage students to attend the event. We had a fantastic response.
One fine morning, it was raining cats and dogs in Ooty. The weather was wet and cold. Jai forwarded me a Facebook post.
The post included a photo of me (a very old one) and a lengthy description of Tamil. Despite the fact that it was unpleasant to read, I completed it.
What pains me the most is the premeditated mudslinging effort against me, as well as the disgusting attempts at character assassination. This deceptive effort was launched by a member of the 2018 festival team, a book publisher from Chennai. He posted a lengthy Facebook post referring to me as a thief and explaining how I utilised a film festival to scam money. He also shared my photograph (a very old one). He tagged everyone and encouraged them to share. People did share and comment harshly on this posting of him. Individuals who have no connection to me or the projects also made unpleasant comments.
“Sir, we should respond and counter it right away,” Jai remarked.
“No need, the best counter would be to be calm and do what we’re doing,” I responded, and informed him that “withstanding criticism demands a lot of patience and tolerance, and above all, a very positive attitude, so let’s stay optimistic.”
I feel that criticism is readily avoided by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing, as Aristotle stated.
We began to concentrate on our job and were unconcerned with the critiques and unfavourable publicity directed at me and the festival. People used to quote the Facebook post here and there, friends would call and express their unhappiness, and my opponents would share and write even harsher comments.
This was the publisher’s gentleman’s primary task and his hate-motivated behaviour. He started stalking us. When we invite someone to the festival or submit a fund-raising proposal, he will call them and tell them about how awful and corrupt I am.
It definitely slowed down the process of confirming attendees and fundraising. However, it had no influence on me or the team. I was saddened by how one person utilised Goebbels’ Principles of Propaganda to feed his ego by spreading false information about me and the Ooty Short Film Festival. He appealed to the emotions by stating that he had been cheated and had lost tons of money. He gave only one side of the story and continuously criticised the festival. He picked one enemy that is me, for special vilification, a Goebbels rulebook classic.
Many well-known progressive writers and intellectual filmmakers have fallen victim to this false propaganda and ignored us without checking or investigating the truth.
Anyway, in the digital era, who cares about the truth?
“When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they seemed invincible, but in the end, they always fell. Always think of it.” This is not my quote but that of Mahatma Gandhi.
We chose, from the beginning of the festival arrangements, to keep the entire team separated and anonymous. Only I am in the spotlight. We anticipated that this might occur. We didn’t even reveal our verified partners and venue. All of our advertising and promotions merely said “Ooty Short Film Festival 2021” and the date. This method was extremely effective; our strategy really worked. Our adversaries could not do much beyond me.
This unfortunate incident had two impacts. Both are very positive impacts. The first significant impact was that the team’s unity was strengthened. The team began to work even harder than before; they didn’t want to fail. The second is that we have received help from hitherto undisclosed sources. We received tremendous assistance from both individuals and institutions. Suddenly, we realised that the entire Nilgiris District was rooting for us, and everyone was looking forward to our success.
I just finished watching Money Heist’s “Live Many Lives” episode; it looks like every movie, show, or novel these days simply kills off protagonists for the sake of shock value and nothing more.
This Ooty Short Film Festival is, in my opinion, of the people, by the people, and for the people. And the individuals here are all from the area. I want to provide them with a festival that they can be proud of, similar to the Berlin International Film Festival. In addition, I believe it will open up new opportunities for tourism in the district.
Because of the perseverance of Suresh, Yoga, Pasu, Stalin, and Padhu, I can proudly declare that we accomplished what I hoped for; the people of the district came forward and expressed their support as if it were an event in their village or house.
I went to the central secretariat with my friend Ramesh. He is the major supplier of water cans, electrical and electronic items, stationery, and everything else the secretariat requires. He escorted me to all of the secretariat’s offices. He also taught me how to communicate with people in the secretariat. To deal with them, you must have particular skills.
I was unable to meet with any ministers, but I did deliver the invites to the offices. I invited Tamil Nadu’s Tourism Minister and Information and Broadcasting Minister to be our Chief Guests. The officer in charge assured me that when he arrives, he will hand over the invitation. On his table, I could see more than 50 invites similar to ours.
Ms. Supria Sahu, Principal Secretary, Environment, Climate Change, and Forest Department, is the next person on the agenda. Her office is located within the secretariat as well.
She is a monitoring officer for the Niglris District and chairperson of INDCOSERVE, India’s largest tea co-operative Federation, and I went without an appointment. I’ve known her for a long time because she’s frequented Gallery OneTwo, Ooty.
Fortunately, she was at her office. She recognized me right away, and we had a long conversation about the gallery and the film festival. I extended an invitation to attend the event.
Interesting read
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