As they say, knowledge is the food for the soul. Day 2 of Goafest 2018 was truly remarkable as masters of varied crafts shared their personal experiences. Topics as diverse from making it in Bollywood to the 2019 Union Elections and cricket controversies, the sessions ensured that boredom had no way of entering the minds of the audiences.
Learning with the Student of the Year
First up was the Lokmat Knowledge Seminar with Bollyowood star and youth icon Sidharth Malhotra in an interview-style conversation with President & Publisher, Chitralekha Group, Mitrajit Bhattacharya. They chatted about Sidharth’s journey from a middle class Delhi boy to the bollywood heartthrob.
Sidharth said it took a lot of hard work and a bit of luck to get his first film. Speaking about his experience with Ad film maker Vinil Mather, Director of Hasee To Phasee, he said that all ad-film makers have a keen eye for detail. On dealing with failures, Sidharth says to have faith in higher energies.
Speaking about his most memorable experiences with the advertising, Sidharth was reminiscing memorable ads such as ‘Doodh Doodh’ by Amul, ‘Jalebi’ by Dhara and ‘Girl on the field’ by Cadbury. In fact, in his opinion in-film advertising works brilliantly when done correctly. Sidharth even suggested monetising selfies through the Goafest App. Looks like the youth icon also has strong business acumen to back those washboard abs and cute smile.
Doing the News
In short yet extremely impactful session, as a part of the Leadership Summit, Faye D’souza, Executive Editor, Mirror Now spoke about the promise that was made last year at Goafest to bring a channel that focuses on issues faced by India. And to that the issues that Mirror Now brings the spotlight on. She started with a story about the importance of the messenger and shared some inspiring impact that the Mirror Now campaign made to create regulation on child-safety locks in taxis/ cabs, in light of the Nayana Pujari rape case in Pune.
Fielding on and off the field
The highlight of the afternoon, was the engaging yet entertaining conversation between Jonty Rhodes – Cricket Legend, South Africa and Anand Narasimhan – Senior Editor, Times Now on cricket, controversies, anecdotes and the interesting tale behind why Jonty Rhodes’ daughter is named India. Jonty being his jovial self unveiled some of the behind-the-scene stories of the infamous cricketing scams like the Hanse Cronje match fixing scandal and more recent Steve Smith ball-tampering debacle. He also regaled memories of the time with his father and his advice of Practice makes you perfect, but its perfect practice that brings success.
The audience connected extensively with Jonty and Anand and questions were galore. Answering to a question on what is his equivalent is of moment when one’s waiting for catching the ball from the sky,he said that its seeing Munaf Patel catch it.
On an unrelated note, he shed some light on the reason behind his daughter being named India. He says in India there is something different here everyday. For the current Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli he two tips on leadership – To be true to himself and being consistent.
Heal the world
The effervescent Sparsh Shah aka Purhythm, the 14-year-old singing prodigy began his session by singing the National Anthem. Sparsh has been learning Hindustani classical music for the last seven-and-a-half years and American vocal music for the last three years. The multi-talented artist performs at community events and has appeared on local radio stations and television
shows and much more. Born with over 40 fractures in his body because of a rare disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, he epitomizes resilience. “Music is my great escape, Sparsh believes.
Every bit of his session was met with applause. He was inspiring, encouraging and radiating warm. “There are two very important principles with which I live my life. One is self-responsibility. I truly believe that every issue can be solved. If you believe something won’t happen to you, it won’t happen to you. If you want something really, you will make it happen. Purpose of life is a life of purpose. Isn’t it? We have to be responsible for ourselves and ask one question, how can we help others walk their journey? The second point is social responsibility. Advertising plays a huge role in society. Growing up and living in the age of information, we should all know that we spend at least 12 hours on media. What we receive from these media platforms is crucial. In this fast paced world of advertisements, people really do believe what they see. With great power comes great responsibility. We have to be the role models. We can change society’s attitude. Be the voice of specially-abled people. We need to build campaigns to make society accessible.”
As he ended his session to thundering applause and a standing ovation, he spoke about inclusive advertisements. We do believe that there is no better satisfaction than giving back to those who are in need. As the first half of day 1 ended with robots, people and connections, the one big takeaway was: Be real, be righteous, be relevant. Peace out.
