Pune: For the past seven years, Madhuri Jamdar (55) has guarded a specific seven-day window in her calendar. Her preparation begins the moment the schedule is announced. Group calls with her six closest friends ensue, and their regular evening walks quickly transform into animated strategy sessions.The working women in the group apply for leave months in advance. For the homemakers, families step up —heating their own lunches and ensuring no domestic interruptions during this sacred week. To avoid last-minute chaos, every detail is meticulously planned: time slots are debated, commutes are fixed, and venues are mapped.
Armed with schedules, water bottles, shawls, and comfortable footwear, Jamdar and her friends descend upon the Pune International Film Festival (PIFF), fuelled by the thrill of experiencing global cultures and triumphs through cinema.This year, the 24th edition of PIFF (held from Jan 15 to 22) has brought a palpable energy to its three main venues: E-Square, PVR Pavilion Mall, and the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). The corridors are alive with the sounds of fans calling late friends and intense debates over lighting choices, narrative arcs, and why certain films resonated while others faltered. In the long, serpentine queues, a quiet anxiety lingers as viewers wonder if they will make the cut for the next screening. On Tuesday, the crowd was a vibrant mix of Pune’s demographic. A group of young cinephiles in baggy clothes chatted noisily about a recent screening; nobody shushed them. Nearby, an older generation in khadi kurtas and oxidized jewellery waited calmly, some studying the programme and others simply “reading the room”. “This shows why PIFF is more than just a film festival,” Jamdar remarked. “It is a meeting place of ideas and generations. it reminds you why Pune is the cultural capital of Maharashtra.” For septuagenarians Ravindra Singh Chauhan, B.M. Gupta, and K.G. Tulsani, PIFF began as a way to fill their retirement years. They soon realised it offered much more. “What we usually watch and what is showcased here are worlds apart,” Chauhan said. “We are discovering new cultures and themes we never considered before,” added Gupta. While PIFF brings the world to Pune, it also serves as a vital launchpad for local talent. Raoba Gajmal, director of Sangala — which won the Govt of Maharashtra’s ‘Sant Tukaram’ Best International Marathi Film award last year — returned on Tuesday as a spectator. “New filmmakers like us often lack the funds to send films to international festivals,” Gajmal said. “PIFF provides a global platform right here. Our win last year helped us take Sangala to other national and international circuits. Such festivals are lifeblood for budding Marathi filmmakers.” The festival also continues to shape the perspectives of its youngest attendees. First-time visitors Vaibhav Misal and Sanket Mitkar, students of commerce and engineering respectively, were deeply moved after watching Waves, a film from the Czech Republic and Slovakia. “The direction and storytelling are so different from the Hollywood or Bollywood films we grew up with,” Mitkar said. “But it made us realise that core human emotions are universal. In Waves, students lead a revolution for free speech — that’s a struggle any student, anywhere, can relate to. Social conditioning may change us, but our core values remain the same.” Summing up the spirit of the event, Jayant Pathak, a retired high-school teacher and PIFF regular, noted that film is the ultimate educational tool. Pathak used to borrow reels from the NFAI to show his students, hoping to broaden their horizons. “Though films are tangible and structured, they often lead us to the most abstract truths,” he said. “They are perhaps the most powerful way to fuel the human imagination.”
