Day 3 of India Non-Fiction Festival (INNF) took off on a patriotic note with Laxmi Dhaul, Sidharth Bhatia and Shruti Seth discussing the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi and his relevance in today’s world. It was the occasion of Republic Day and discussions on the future of our country were in full swing. This was enhanced with the launch of ‘Magic Mantras’ by Laxmi Dhaul, a book which Shruti Seth defined as one that would lead mainly youngsters and others towards a peaceful tomorrow.
Bollywood names like Tisca Chopra and Imtiaz Ali added wit and humour to the festival with the launch of Tisca Chopra’s book ‘Acting Smart-Your Ticket to Showbiz’. The book throws light upon the world of cinema.
While renowned chef Vicky Ratnani, Kunal Vijayakar and Farzana Contractor added some flavour with talks of food, emotional and cultural references to the discussions, Dr. Rajat Chauhan and Charles Asisi motivated the listeners to become philosophical and look at the deeper meaning in life and look for happiness within.
The session held on this day was called ‘Non Fiction Hitting Hard’, which happened to be quite an exciting and somewhat controversial experience. Esteemed reporters like Hussain Zaidi, Harish Nambiar and Vaibhav Purandare spoke about the lives of controversial figures like Dawood Ibrahim, Karim Lala and Bal Thackeray. Audiences asked questions like “Does Sharad Pawar lead Dawood Ibrahim or vice versa?”, “Do crime reports get pressurized by the government?” to quote a few.
The rate of excitement did not just end there, it continued to the launch of Kumaar Bagrodia’s book ‘Man, Roadie: Raghu Ram’. Raghu Ram was present at the launch and kept the audience engaged as he spoke about his personal life on a public forum and about the failure of the education system and the competitive culture in India. However, Raghu gave the evening a cheerful end by singing ‘Manmani’ on popular demand.