Anirban Das (MID-DAY; October 8, 2015)

Hansal Mehta’s Aligarh, a real-life inspired drama which got a standing ovation at the ongoing Busan International Film Festival, will kick off the 17th Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) Mumbai Film Festival starting October 29. The list of films to be screened at the eight-day event was announced yesterday.

Filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee, who is part of the MAMI board of trustees, says, “The ingenuity that Anupama Chopra and Kiran Rao have brought this year is magnificent. They have got some incredible sponsors and a lot of stars for the entertainment quotient. Shyam Benegal, Aamir Khan and Kangana Ranaut will be there for the inaugural film. Many others including Amitabh Bachchan will speak for MAMI.”

The festival will host alternative cinema, which is a rare opportunity for movie buffs. He adds, “We have got a great collection of alternative films from across the country in languages many wouldn’t know exist. There are also several innovative categories like World Cinema, India Story, Children Films, Experimental Films and After Dark, to name a few.”

Anupama Chopra, festival director, says great effort has gone into listing the films to be screened this year. Among the highlights are Satyajit Ray’s Apu Trilogy and a restored version of Guru Dutt’s 1957 classic, Pyaasa. The fest will conclude with French-English film, One Plus One.

Revered writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar will be honoured at the fest, reveals Kiran Rao, chairperson of MAMI. The International Excellence in Cinema award will be conferred on iconic Israeli filmmaker, Amos Gitai.