LIFF warm-up party in the lap of nature

The peaceful surroundings, a sky dotted with twinkling stars, a chill in the air, a warm bonfire and some drinks - the setting for a pre-bash ceremony for the second edition of the Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) here seemed like a perfect warm-up.

Ladakhi and foreign filmmakers, along with noted names from Indian filmdom like Gulzar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rekha Bhardwaj, Aparna Sen, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Usha Jadhav and Ravi Kemmu added charm to the casual get-together, where most of them went cheers after cheers here Thursday night.

There was film talk and more - the do's and don'ts in Ladakh in the Jammu and Kashmir, the must visit places, health advice...so on and so forth. But a whole lot of excitement was evident among the local filmmakers, who were happy to meet popular filmmakers from India's entertainment hub, Mumbai.