The fifth edition of Tata Steel Jharkhand Literary Meet came to an end on Sunday in Ranchi. The annual literary fest saw some of India’s best authors and poets, and men and women from the arts sharing their valuable insights and experiences during the two days of the fest at Audrey House with a promise to bring more stalwarts in the future.
The final day of the festival began with the discussion on the impact by the European travelers on Indian literature with Jonathan Gil Harris and Gianluca Rubagotti, Counsel General of Italy. Actors Vinay Pathak and Rajat Kapoor discussed how in recent times the format of web series is ruling the entertainment industry and the impact it has on the big screen.
During the discussion, when questioned about the quality content made in OTT, Rajat Kapoor said that OTT is not supporting good cinema and instead has had “Very bad stuff”; meanwhile, Vinay Pathak commented that in the past several years, neither OTT nor the big screen has come up with great content.
Before this, Pathak began by sharing his experience of growing up in Ranchi and watching films as a young student in mini Sujata, Sandhya and other theatres, while Rajat Kapoor said that in his growing up years, cinema was a big part of his life and the impact ‘Dewaar’ had in his life.
When questioned about the initial; vibe about OTT platforms and if they thought of any project being something that cannot be created for the big screen, Kapoor said that something like this is yet to happen, however, in case of any big change, there is a lot of optimism for some time, after which the excitement fades away. Kapoor commented that this may be the case with OTT at present.
One of the most interesting sessions held today was with Geetanjali Shree, the first Hindi language author to win Booker International award for her novel Ret Samadhi. Jharkhand’s young and vibrant literary and cultural scene was represented in a session on cinema of the region featuring Purushotam Kumar, Niranjan Kujur and Anurag Lugun.
Balaji Vittal along with Amit Sinha, Sharda Ugra and Jeet Banerjee shared with the audience various unknown facts of the local hero, MS Dhoni. Discussions were held on the books ‘Kulbooshan Ka Naam Darj Keejiye”, and “Duniya Main Aurat” where young and stalwart Hindi authors shared the stage. Akshaya Mukul who recently wrote a biography on iconic Hindi writer Agyeya also spoke about the legend.
The two-day literature festival ended with a solo act by eminent actor Vinay Pathak. The play ‘King Lear’ is directed by actor-director Rajat Kapoor.
