The national film awards just announced suggest that regional cinema demands more attention than ever before. Not that Bollywood is not coming up with fresh ideas and continues to prevail over organisations in the states. There is room for debate on whether a film like PK ought to have missed out on an award in one of the categories — acting or wholesome entertainment. Bollywood did throw up many valid claims — from Queen and Haider to Mary Kom, but it was a Marathi film, Court, that bagged the top prize and it reaffirmed the rapid strides Marathi cinema has been taking.

This was re-emphasised at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute where Doordarshan took the lead in presenting what it called the Best of Indian Cinema, a two-day festival that offered regional cinema another platform from which to reach larger numbers. Doordarshan is better equipped than any other organisation for taking this initiative. It has the largest network of channels, a wider reach than any other satellite channel and derives its biggest strength from the fact that Prasar Bharati, which controls Doordarshan and All India Radio, is committed to enhancing both social awareness and aesthetic sensibilities. In Pune and Kolkata, it is helped by the fact that the film institutes functioning under the same ministry provide the infrastructure and resources to help achieve these objectives. In the circumstances, the festival became a showcase for some of the best film made over the past 10 years.

In keeping with the prevailing trend, Marathi film Mala Aai Vhaychay appeared to leave the strongest impression on the audience at the SRFTI. Made by Samruiddhi Porey, it dealt with the emotionally charged issue of motherhood in the context of the legal implications arising from surrogacy. The director is a practising lawyer but claimed at a live interaction after the screening — a worthwhile exercise that threw up interesting observations — that she was a mother as well and that helped to put her heart into her debut work. That the film fetched several national and international awards was incidental.

More important, those who saw the film must have been convinced that the director can claim a natural confidence in handling an emotional subject with remarkable restraint — not lapsing into melodrama — and handling the cast (including a child who plays a pivotal role) with supreme assurance. The festival became an occasion for meeting filmmakers from different regions — another good way of promoting the idea of interaction that could lead to creative exchanges. One found Malayalam director Shyama prasad coming to Kolkata with Ore Kadal, which he had made back in 2007. The interesting point was that it had been adapted from a Sunil Gangopadhyay story, Hirak Deepthi. The filmmaker had spent quite some time with the author in Kolkata before making the film that deals with the problems of poverty and development against the backdrop of a moral conflict when an internationally acclaimed economist strays into an extra-marital relationship.

Shyamaprasad has been one of the most prolific and socially conscious young directors who can claim to have moved into the space occupied by veterans like Shaji Karun and Adoor Gopalakrishnan. Equally interesting was the encounter with Prakash Belwadi from Bangalore, who moved from the stage to his first film, Stumble, which he made in English to win the national award for a debut work in 2002.

Here was someone who wore many hats and was extremely candid about the weaknesses that are evident in his first work. This consists primarily of the television serial-like treatment of a promising subject — the complexities arising from the new economic scenario in the early 1990s. Apart from live interactions after the screenings, Doordarshan organised closer encounters with Belawadi and the other directors who were present on the SRFTI campus during the festival.

It revealed similarities in temperament and creative sensibilities, which would not have been known had such a festival not been held. Belawadi&’s strong connections with the theatre, for example, drew him into the world of Tagore and to the adaptation of two stories — Char Adhyay and Gora— in Kannada. Consciously or otherwise, it was a response to the observations made on Tagore&’s work made by Girish Karnad for whom he had worked on the small screen and whom he considers his mentor. But why did he make his first film in English? Belawadi is candid enough to say that the national award was no consolation for the mistake in making the film in a language that restricted its distribution. Just these films and the encounters with their makers would have made this session worth attending. But what has also happened is that Doordarshan, with the support of sister organisations like SRFTI, has opened a new window for good films.

There has been an explosion of production on the mainstream circuits. If this session leads to more such events and a regular slot on Doordarshan, it could produce the creative energy that would make a real difference