Bengaluru: Feminism, romance, cash ban: This lit festival will be a real pot-boiler

Bengaluru: In December, all roads lead to the Bangalore Literature Festival! BLF is back and raring to go after last year's controversy, with a star-studded lineup that boasts over 110 speakers, interactive sessions for authors and their fans, concerts, art and of course, plenty for the kids! Shashi Tharoor and his son, Kanishka, Aishwarya Rajnikanth Dhanush, Chetan Bhagat and Amish Tripathy promise to be some of the biggest crowd-pullers this year, as discussions range on a number of topics from modern-day feminism, new media, demonetization, films and romance!

“We have decided not to focus on a single theme this year, but that has resulted in a lot of diversity in what is being discussed,” said V. Ravichandar, one of the organisers of the festival. Shashi Tharoor will start things off on Saturday, for a panel titled Inglorious Empire: THe Reality of the British Raj, which has him in conversation with Sanjeev Sanyal. Having It All: The New Indian Girl promises to be quite the riot as author Sudha Murty gets in conversation with Chetan Bhagat, of whom she is a big fan! "Sudha told us that she has read all his books and seen the movies, too," said Ravichandar. 

Former journalist T.J.S. George's Askew: A Short History of Bangalore is a topic of discussion on Day 1, with a panel comprising architect Naresh Narasimhan, urban expert V. Ravichandar and theatre personality Prakash Belawadi. Economist Narendar Pani will join Sanjeev Sanyal and Shiv Vishwanathan for The Theatre of Demonetisation. Ramachandra Guha, whose sessions have always been packed to the rafters, is taking a diversion from history and politics to talk Cricket. "We wanted something different from him this year," Ravichandar added. 

Day 2 promises to be more lighthearted as Bengaluru-based Andaleeb Wajid draws Jane De Zuza, Kiran Manral, Rachna Singh and Sajita Nair into conversation for the panel 'Badass Women: Changing the World." Kiran Manral and Sally Breen will discuss modern day dating woes on Ask Me Anything - Love me Tinder. Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor will join Antoine Lewis,  Manu Chandra and Suresh Hinduja on What's Cooking? The Future of Indian Food.  Josy Joseph will discuss the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi with journalist Neena Gopal, in Rajiv Gandhi: Chronicle of A Death Foretold.

"There are new elements this year, like the Red Couch, where authors are free to meet with their fans and choose their own topics for discussion." The idea is to step away from the panel discussion format and encourage active interaction between authors and their fans.  There's plenty in store for the kids, too. Children's Literature and Fun, as it is called, is a lot more intense this year. "We have had sessions for kids in the past, but it's been a kind of tokenism,” said Ravichandar. 

Guru Rewben Mashangva, known for his talent for Bob Dylan will perform on Day 1, followed by Piyush Mishra on Day 2.