“We were replaced without being told”
MUMBAI MIRROR (October 4, 2014)

A day after Mirror reported that MAMI (16th Mumbai Film Festival) has decided to shift its venue from South Mumbai's Liberty Cinema to theatres in the Juhu-Andheri belt, the owner of the South Mumbai theatre, Nasir Hoosein, says that they still haven't been informed about the switch.

"I read it in Mirror that we will no longer be hosting MAMI. It came as a shock because the festival administration didn't inform us, not even a courtesy call," he says adding, "Liberty is one of the most beautiful art-deco structures in Mumbai. It emits a nostalgic vibe and during the film festival, the place is buzzing with cinema-lovers. Not having a venue in South Mumbai will affect the movie-goers residing in this part of the city."

Whe we pointed out that according to the festival organisers, the shift in venue was prompted because they couldn't secure an octroi exemption on the 2K projector that had to be transported from Delhi, Hoosein replied, "We would have happily pitched in and borne the cost. That's never been a problem."

Hoosein maintains that after hosting the festival for the past few years, it was hurtful to be shown the door abruptly.

"I met the festival director during the recent press conference. That's when I realised we weren't the main venue - but at no point was I told that Liberty had been shown the door altogether," he lamented.

To this MAMI's festival director Srinivasan Narayanan said, "I did write him a mail informing him that the projector was a problem. We love Liberty as a venue and even now, we are making our best efforts to retain it. But, it looks difficult."