MID-DAY (October 14, 2016)

The Day Shall Dawn, an Oscar-nominated Pakistani film, features in the movie line-up of the upcoming Mumbai Academy of Moving Arts (MAMI) Film Festival. Despite the demand for ban on all things Pakistani following the Uri attacks, the festival organisers have decided to go ahead with the screening of the classic’s restored version in their special section.

Says an insider, “This film was made long before Bangladesh was formed. It’s a global film now. We don’t see why there should be an objection to this by any politically motivated group.” The 1960 bilingual movie (Hindi and Urdu) is a semi documentary that sheds light on the quality of life in a small fishing village in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Everyone in the community dreams of just one thing — having their own boat. For Pakistan, the film was a first of its kind and had earned accolades, including a nomination in the 1960 Academy Awards.

MAMI’s spokesperson remained unavailable for comment and Kiran Rao, festival chairperson, did not respond to text messages.

Smriti Kiran, creative director of MAMI, said, “We wouldn’t want to comment on this.”