Film buffs list their best and worst at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival that concluded yesterday

The new age generation of Bollywood actors and filmmakers talk about their best and worst picks of the 13th Mumbai Film Festival held between October 13 and 20, 2011.

Shahana Goswami, actress
The actress couldn't catch many films due to her busy schedule. "Of the movies I saw, my favorites have to be Pina and The Artist. I also liked The Yellow Sea and Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, " says Shahana.

Likes:
Pina: The film was great because dance is something I enjoy, especially the choreography that was shown in the film was stunningly distinct. It is the most effective use of a 3D in a film. It's a must watch.

The Artist: It was a completely different medium. What I loved about the film was its simplicity. Even the gimmicks they used to show the way silent films were shot was great.

The Yellow Sea: The film came as a huge surprise. Even though I am not a gore fan I enjoyed it because of its realistic and interesting storytelling.

Dislikes:
I didn't particularly like Melancholia. I was feeling low for the whole night and the next morning.

Bejoy Nambiar, director
He made his debut with Shaitan had stationed himself at the venue throughout the festival. The self-confessed movie buff raves about the films shown this year.

"The quality of the festival is getting better every year. This year also they had a very interesting bouquet of films. Besides popular films at the festival, there are a lot of very interesting but under-rated ones also which I haven't even heard of."

Likes:
Yellow Sea: It's a very simple gangster film; the plot, the brutal violence and the twists they simply took me for surprise. The performance was fabulous.

Pina: It was about a dancer (Pina) and her students performing her best dance piece. To see the work on the big screen and to see the pieces it simply blew me. It was visually stunning, each piece more beautiful than the other.

The Artist: The film was genuine and sweet in its approach. Anybody who has grown up on Chaplin or silent films will love it. The downfall of the silent movie star and the rise of the upcoming girl merged beautifully and the dog was damn good.

Melancholia: I liked it a lot. It was very depressing and disturbing but it had a definite impact. The film stayed with me for long. It's not going out of my head. It can raise a lot of debate. The two parts about the sisters were very distinctly done.

Ides Of March: The film came as a surprise. It was a very well done political drama barring a small part, which looked contrived.

Dislikes:
Toast: I love cookery shows. This film was about food. I was quite interested but it turned out to be bad. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner: I walked out after lunch (smiles). I didn't wait for dinner.

Vikramaditya Motwane, director
The director of Udaan says...

Likes: The Artist

Dislikes: There were no bad films.

Guest appearances
Ayaan Mukherjee came for The Artist.

Kiran Rao came for The Artist and Melancholia

Rohan Sippy was there for Ides Of March

Ranveer Shorey came for the screening of Moneyball, Pina and Melancholia.

Bollywood's usual suspects at the festival
Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Kanwaljeet Singh, Shahana Goswami, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Reema Lagoo, Pawan Malhotra, Ramesh Sippy, Kiran Juneja, Anurag Basu, Harsh Chhaya, Sagar Ballary, Saurabh Shukla, Dev Benegal, Vinay Shukla, Renuka Shahane, Onir, Nishikant Kamat, Vrajesh Hirjee and Shreya Narain. Mithun Chakraborty, Shabana Azmi had come for the screening of their respective films.