“Never like the films of Kurasowa, Bergman and Eisenstein…”: Budhijeevi
                              “Bujis”, the Asset of Film Festivals

What happened to the ‘bujis’ (pseudo intellectuals)? The term widely used to represent the class intellectual souls who are largely spotted everywhere in the film festival venues? The earlier editions of IFFK had a significant presence of the ‘budhijeevis’ or ‘bujis’. But the 14th edition witnessed a dwindling in their figure. What happened to them? Are they fast disappearing like the dinosaurs of the past?

Who is a buji? Naturally this question may arise. “Those people who have got a ghastlylook. With a soiled jubba-pyjama and a sparsely distributed moustache, they seem to have no link with the external world. “Actually they are secretly keeping an eye on the people around” says Mrs Asha Latha Thomas an architect who has been to the fest thrice. They have literally no impact on the people .Every one mischievously views them, as a potential butt of ridicule opines three young graduates of a prestigious film institute.

These are not words uttered irreverently at the real masters or intellectuals of the filmworld. The staunch supporters of classical masters and intellectuals are the youth. They can understand talent and appreciate the deserving with grave concern. But they won’t spare the megalomaniacs and the quacks. The youth of the days are well equipped in film and it’s language. The networked world offers them access to every piece of infomation. Classic films are readily available in the net. The information they gather is not from monotonous reading alone. This makes far better than the pseudo intellectuals.

Earlier, the onset world film had an impact on the life of an average Malayali than anyoneelse. The credit mostly goes to the politically sensible people who also had an edge over the others in educational issues. But the jargons in film making and its technical nuances kept most of the people at bay. At such situations there arouse people who could offer assistance to the public. Time later revealed that a good number of the appointed ‘bujis’ were real quacks.

With 15th edition of IFFK fast approaching, its sure that along with the visual treat of world cinema, you are going to rub shoulders with at least one of these ‘bujis’ at any theatre. Watch out!