IFP Season 12 Festival: Javed Akhtar debates with Makarand Paranjape on religion

It was the first day of the festival. The gates had been open for an hour and the entire fest was buzzing with activity. With four stages, multiple experience zones, exhibitions, and whatnot, the attendees had plenty to choose from. But one could not ignore the increased crowd flow near stage one. Just one glance at the schedule and you realise why. It was time for one of the most talked about sessions at the fest featuring the most beloved and yet controversial writer and lyricist Javed Akhtar, who had come to share his thoughts on an even more contentious topic - The role of religion in today's time: Do we really need religion in the 21st century?

The stage was set. Every available seat had been taken by the crowd. Akhtar sat beside Shoma Chaudhury, along with Makarand Paranjape, one of India's leading public intellectuals. Everyone knew what Akhtar’s position would be in this debate because of his public declaration of atheism and condemnation of religion. Paranjpe’s stance on the debate also became clear when he started off by drawing a clear distinction between dharma and religion, emphasising the importance of spirituality and its impact on society.

The session was intense and boisterous. Both speakers made their points, each trying to outdo the other. Akhtar, with the help of various amusing analogies sided with the idea that it’s stupid to believe something that doesn’t exist while Paranjape maintained that religion is not about deities and gods but about morality and a way of life. At one point, the entire session became so divisive, interesting, and intriguing, that they cancelled the question and answer session with the audience in order to prolong the debate.

We don’t know if the speakers ever agreed with each other after the session, but we do know that everyone who attended was enriched by the end of it. The IFP Season 12 Festival took place on October 8 and 9 at Mumbai’s Filmistan Studio. Thousands of creators and well-known artists travelled from all over the world to take part in this one-of-a-kind celebration of new-age contemporary culture and creativity.

This year’s festival took a completely different direction than previous editions. The IFP envisioned the festival to be more immersive, experience-driven and welcoming to a diverse range of creators such as filmmakers, musicians, writers, designers, storytellers, podcasters, stand up artistes, photographers, advertisers, and many others.