In retrospect, the organisers of the Chandigarh film festival may have been slightly tempted to provide a similar “audience” for the Croatian film screened at Fun Republic on Monday morning as part of the film festival.

When translated into English, the film’s title reads — The Man Who Had No Moustache.

Unfortunately, viewers to the movie proved as elusive as the whiskers of the protagonist. Only three people watched the movie. This sparse attendance became more embarrassing when Alma Ljubic, the Economic and Cultural Counselor of the Croatian embassy, arrived to watch the movie. She visited the Chandigarh film festival in the capacity of an acting Ambassador of her country. So perturbed was Ms Ljubic at the abysmal response that she decided to cut short her visit and return to Delhi. Talking to The Indian Express, she said, “I was obviously disappointed. I think, some part of it could be attributed to the time the movie was screened. The Chandigarh film festival is still in a nascent stage. We surely expected a better response.”

UT Director of Public Relations, Vivek Attray says, “On hindsight, the movie could have been given a more appropriate slot, but we need to keep one thing in mind — the film culture is gradually picking up in Chandigarh. Even the best known foreign films when played in a Chandigarh festival don’t get more than 20 to 25 people in the audience. I have asked the Croatian embassy to send a DVD of the movie to us, so that we can show it to a more appreciative audience at our cinema club.”

Ms Ljubic, however, says this might not be possible. “We operate as representatives of our government. The film was allowed to be shown in the Chandigarh festival as part of the cultural exchange between India and Croatia. We will have to decide whether the film can be shown to a private gathering.”