#FoF Spotlight: “The soul of Mehfil will always be the same”

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Entertainment | August 11, 2020 | News

Festival of Festivals Event Capital BookMyShow Mehfil Kommune

Event Capital and BookMyShow have announced the launch of ‘Festival of Festivals’ (FoF). The curated collection of India’s event IPs (intellectual properties) across genres such as music, food, literature, languages, fashion, and more, has been conceived to boost India’s live entertainment sector that has been heavily impacted through the Covid19 crisis. 
A first-of-its-kind initiative, the three-day virtual gala starts 14th August 2020. It is slated to feature 15 festivals, adding up to over 23 hours of content. The ticketed event will donate 10 percent of proceeds to NGO Anahad, to support artistes involved in live entertainment impacted by the pandemic. This will be routed through BookMyShow’s charity initiative BookASmile.

EVENTFAQS Media reached out to participating festivals to know what one can expect to see at the inaugural FoF and what participants expect from the new property. Here below is an interaction with Team Kommune, organisers of participating festival Mehfil. 

How does a move from on-ground to virtual format impact an established event IP like yours?

The great thing about having an established IP like Mehfil is that it already has a strong identity, so shifting to a virtual platform will not affect the event too much. At its heart, Mehfil is about celebrating the Urdu and Hindustani (Hip Hindustani, as we call it) language through poetry and music, and we are confident that we will be able to do this by creating a warm, intimate and beautiful atmosphere through the online medium.

What is your expectation from being part of the Festival of Festivals?

We are proud to be part of this event which features some innovative and entertaining festivals, and the best part of it is that we will get to be part of a larger community of organisers and loyal festival-goers.

What is the content module you are coming up with for FoF? How similar or different will this be from your original festival?

We are coming up with a very special line up for Mehfil FoF, featuring artistes such as Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Ankur Tewari, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Danish Husain, and many more! It will be similar to our original festival in terms of the content because the soul of Mehfil will always be the same.

One reason for people to watch it, over the plethora of content on the web.  

One reason - An opportunity to get lost in the beauty of two languages, Urdu and Hindustani, brought to life by some of the nation's most cherished artistes. Also, all profits from the show will go to the stayIN aLIVE fund, a fund for artistes who are struggling to make ends meet due to the coronavirus pandemic.