JLF 2024: From Pulitzer Prize winners to When Chai Met Toast, the biggest highlights to watch out for

JLF usually goes big on Bollywood, inviting anyone it can possibly thread to literature (or even otherwise). However, since the pandemic, it has gone back to the basics, trimming the brouhaha and focusing on its core promise. This is probably the only session with people from the Hindi film industry discussing one of their own.

Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj and theatre actor Sutapa Sikdar, who is also Irrfan’s wife, will be in conversation with film critic Shubhra Gupta about her new book Irrfan: A Life in Movies. Slated for the prime-time Sunday evening slot, the session is dedicated to the late actor—his artistry, magic, and cinema. Though it will be held at the spacious Front Lawn, if you want to attend, secure a seat at least an hour or two in advance. You won’t find any or even a decent place to stand later.

After starring as the lead in the Norwegian romantic comedy Christmas As Usual last December, Kanan Gill is out with his first novel Acts of God. An homage to the oversaturated genre of science fiction, it has all the classic Kanan elements—existential angst, lots of questions, and observational humor packaged neatly in pointed storytelling. If you’re bummed about his stand-up show in Jaipur getting cancelled at the last minute, this is your chance to catch him live.

The multilingual indie-folk alternative band will be bringing JLF’s Music Stage to life on February 3. If you’re a fan, it will be an experience unlike any other. The line-up of the first three days also includes performances by singer-songwriter Alif (Mohammad Muneem), The Tapi Project, and The Revisit Project.

JLF this year will have not one but three of them. Kai Bird, the co-writer of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J Robert Oppenheimer, on which Christopher Nolan’s last blockbuster was based, will be talking about the book, the conflicted icon, and his writing life. If the film got you curious about Oppenheimer, this session is sure to add fuel to the fire. Then there’s Hernan Diaz, who will be discussing his award-winning novel Trust, the myths shrouding wealth, and the fictions that often pass for history. Finally, there will also be Roger Cohen who will share his experiences covering war and conflict-torn regions.

Other than festival favourites Gulzar and Shashi Tharoor, there are also panel sessions with Raghuram Rajan, Sudha Murthy, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Gurcharan Das, Sharmistha Mukherjee, Amish Tripathi, Anant Goenka, Devdutt Pattanaik, Suhasini Haidar, Nilanjana Roy, Tarun Tahiliani, and Maria Goretti, who will talk at length about their books, concerns, and motivations.