No complaints over IFFK inaugural ceremony, says Shaji N. Karun

Ace film-maker Shaji N. Karun has said that he respected Kerala State Chalachitra Academy Chairman Kamal as a fellow director and had no complaints regarding the inaugural ceremony of the International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday on the sidelines of a press meet of the Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), Mr. Karun, who is the chairman of KSFDC, said that he had been invited for the IFFK event and he did not attend it only because he had nothing to contribute to it.

“People who invited me did not mention what I have to do there. So there is no point in me going there,” he said. “When the IFFK started, the purpose was to promote films from Latin America, Asia and Africa that were struggling. After 25 years, I doubt if IFFK has the same goals. It should be a professional meet, not a festival per se. It is not what I conceived. Hence I did not want to be part of it any more,” he added.

He said that there weren’t many who remembered his contributions to Malayalam cinema. “All best works in the world are celebrated many years after they are released. The value of those works are realised much later,” he said.

“Academies should be headed by people who live way ahead of time,” Mr. Karun said when asked if the Chalachitra Academy was headed by proponents of commercial cinema.