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18th JIO MAMI Opening Ceremony 2016 – the glamour and the glitz!

18th JIO MAMI Opening Ceremony 2016 – the glamour and the glitz!

written by Souranath Banerjee

JIO MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival 2016, it’s happening right now, right here and it’s a heaven for film lovers!

And this time MAMI had one of the most grand Opening Ceremony ever!

The Venue:

Mumbai, October 20, 2016: Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival with Star kicked off its 18th edition with a grand ceremony at the iconic Royal Opera House as world-renowned filmmakers, talent and 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016Bollywood stars walked the red carpet to celebrate the city’s very own film festival.

The Royal Opera House is the last standing Baroque building in Mumbai. The royal family of Gondal – the owners of the venue – have worked towards ensuring the complete restoration of this centre under the watchful eye of conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah. The iconic structure has a long standing association with art, literature, theatre, music, and has hosted operas and live performances of many celebrated artists.

The stars:

Bollywood came in full support at the 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016 Red Carpet which was attended by Amitabh 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Poonam Dhillon, Ayan Mukerji, Vinod Chopra, Genelia Dsouza, Shabana Azmi , Zoya Akhtar, Kalki Koechlin, Shobha De,  Rajeev Samant,  Reema Kagti, Ashutosh and Sunita Gowariker, Huma Quershi, Rahul Bose, Harshvardhan Kapoor,  Kunal Kapoor, Nandita Das, R Balki, Abhishek Kapoor, Mini Mathur, Imran Khan, Diya Mirza, Richa Chaddha,  Abhay Deol, Vicky Kaushal and many more.

Jacqueline Fernandez hosted the event. Also present were Festival Director Anupama Chopra, Co-Chairperson Kiran Rao and other 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016Board of Directors including Anurag Kashyap, Rohan Sippy, Riteish Deshmukh, Siddharth Roy Kapur and Vikramaditya Motwane.

Star quotes:

Mrs. Nita Mukesh Ambani, Festival Co-Chair said, “We are all privileged to be here at the resurrected Royal Opera House in its new avatar, a quintessential Mumbai Icon that has been lovingly brought to life for all of us. We really could not have asked for a more befitting venue to open this festival. In the true tradition of the Mumbai, Jio MAMI continues to delight us and surprise us.  Each year they are raising the bar higher and higher for themselves. The festival has put together a truly 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016incredible program and a stellar line-up of films this year. Today is my proud privilege to announce and introduce a new category of award- ‘The Jio MAMI Award for Excellence in Digital Narrative Content’. Through this award we want to discover and celebrate, the talent and potential of our youth. This award will be presented from next year onward. We hope this award will encourage young talent to reimagine their creative promise and take Indian cinema to newer and greater 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016heights, especially in the digital space. Jio MAMI is of Mumbai, by Mumbai and of Mumbai.”

Uday Shankar, CEO, Star India said, “Mumbai Film Festival stands out as a more celebratory event than a ceremonial one. It celebrates great stories and serves as a podium for young talent. In our third year of association with MAMI, our endeavour is to make world-class cinema an accessible and organic experience to the people of Mumbai – a city with deep roots in cinema and its 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016history.”

Festival Director, Anupama Chopra said, “The 18th Edition of the festival will celebrates stories and cinema traditions from around the world. We hope that people enjoy this film feast.”

Creative Director, Smriti Kiran said, “Dazzled by the elegance and grandeur of the Opening Ceremony of the festival at the Royal Opera House. At one point I think I was not even breathing. Over 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016500 film lovers ringing in the festival for 2016. It was a dream come true.”

The Award for ‘Excellence in Cinema-India’ was presented to Director and screenwriter Sai Paranjpye by Mrs. Jaya Bachchan. Paranjpye has won numerous awards, both National and International for her writing and films. She was conferred with the prestigious Padma Bhushan in 2006 and has served on numerous juries and has been the Chairperson of the Children’s Film Society of India.

On receiving the Award for Excellence in Cinema-India, Filmmaker and Screenwriter Sai Paranjpye said, “It is wonderful to see the program being made here, encouraging new directors and women directors. I really feel privileged to receive this award from Mrs. Jaya Bachchan 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016in the magnificent Royal Opera House.”

The Award for ‘Excellence in Cinema- International’ was presented to Chinese Filmmaker, Jia Zhangke known for his cinematic representation of his country’s post-Mao and post-globalization cultural history. His recent films A Touch of Sin, 2013; Mountains May Depart, 2015), has offered a unique perspective on a transitional generation whose commonplace lives evoke universal resonance. The award to Jia Zhangke was presented by Actor Aamir Khan.

On receiving the Award for Excellence in Cinema- International, Chinese Filmmaker Jia Zhangke said, “It is the first time I am coming to Mumbai and India and really thankful to MAMI film festival and the film fraternity.  No matter if its China or India, we have really good 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016audience and we should continue to produce good movies for them.”

Also present at the Opening Ceremony were the esteemed jurors of India Gold section – Head of Jury Reha Erdem, Mychael Danna, Stephanie Zacharek, Yonfan and Tomasz Wasilewski. Head of International Competition Jury, Miguel Gomes was present along with other jurors Tala Hadid, Chris Mcdonald, Anurag Kashyap and Christine Vachon.

The special guests of the evening were nine delegates from Bhutan who were especially flown down to Mumbai to experience this 18th JIO MAMI Opening Festival 2016festival. The Hon’ble Secretary of Ministry of Information and Communications – Mr. Dasho Karma W Penjor, Librarian, Department of Information and Media – Mr. Thinley Dorji, Assistant Information and Media, Department of Information and Media- Mr. Phub Wangdi, and other members from the Bhutan Film Association were present to grace the evening.

Four-time National Award winner, Shankar Mahadevan gave a mesmerising performance at the opening ceremony!

Photo courtesy: mumbaifilmfest.com

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Roy (2015)

My Ratings: 0.5/5.

An interesting fresh choice of actors, a handful of catchy songs and a decent film trailer – who would have known that the result will be a waste of almost 2 and 1/2 hours of my life.

Roy-Poster1Roy will probably be the most hyped disappointment of this year.

Unfortunately within the very first fifteen minutes you get the sense that you have being lured into something unexpectedly boring but till then it’s too late. For the next two hours you are trapped like a bird in a dark cage with a single source of uncomfortable, harsh light that doesn’t let you sleep.

The supposed-to-be dynamic star cast Ranbir KapoorJacqueline Fernandez, and Arjun Rampal tries to act out their parts but without a proper script it’s always tough.

Roy-PosterKabir (Arjun Rampal playing the lead role) is a hotshot writer/director struggling to write his own film script, a playboy who falls in love with another film director Ayesha (Jacqueline Fernandez). 

Ranbir Kapoor though having relatively lesser screen space manages to achieve the difficult task of having not a single expression on his face throughout the film. (I think he should choose his scripts more wisely in future).

For debutant director/writer Vikramjit Singh it evidently didn’t work out this time, but i guess there is always a next time.

Ordinary editing and camera and below average dialogues.

Amal Mallik though deserves a mention for the soulful music of Roy, the only positive aspect in the film.

I won’t personally recommend Roy to anybody.  Watch it at your own risk.

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Kick (2014)

Written by Abhikendu Deb Roy

Ratings: 3.7/5

There are actors. There are stars. There are superstars. And then there is Salman Khan.

Every Salman Khan movie sells by the brand power of the superstar himself and Kick is no exception. However this time the film is actually based on a story and a bit of the script does strike a chord with the viewers – for a change.

Sitting in a single screen theatre with a crowd of Salman-worshippers on a Saturday morning show, you get to experience the sheer star power that drives such films like Kick. Salman Khan – his usual enigmatic screen presence, the chiseled body, pumped up muscles, some ceeti-taali dialogues and a whole lot of action. Kick is synonymous with Salman.

Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, Kick is also a remake of a Tamil film of the same name like most of the recent films of Salman Khan.

Like every other Khan movie’s heroine, Jacqueline Fernandez has to look beautiful and she does look exquisite. However, she adds nothing to the act.

Randeep Hooda does justice to his role of a police officer with scope of improvement in some scenes. To share screen space with Salman Khan and to grab our attention away from the superstar is almost next to impossible. Now that has been successfully executed by Nawaazuddin Siddiqui. His villainous eyes, his strikingly haunting laughter and his dialogue delivery leave us in awe.

Our very own Mithun Chakraborty is still so young at heart and enthusiastic that you want more of him.

One must never forget an item number in a hardcore commercial film like Kick. Nargis Fakhri appears in one such item song and serves the desired purpose.

Commercial masala films run mainly on the star power. But to have a consistent run at the box office, you need hi-tech action sequences and visual effects. Prime Focus Pvt. Ltd does the job efficiently. Over-the-top, not-so-believable action scenes shot in Poland and Delhi; cinematographer Ayananka Bose must be plauded for capturing some beautiful frames of these two cities.

Surprisingly Kick does have minute traces of, what we call, a story. Additional screenplay has been worked upon by Chetan Bhagat; his second collaboration with Salman Khan after ‘Hello’. Chetan is slowly understanding the pulse of the mass of India for sure.

All the elements of an action drama are present throughout with several usage of Salman’s brand power every now and then. References to “Being Human” and “Pandeyji” (Dabangg déjà-vu, anyone?) are also there which receive the maximum number of hoots.

Several questions on the present day society have evolved from the plot as well. However, one thing that still remains unanswered and pretty much haunts me is that, in a film worth 125 crore rupees, why couldn’t they spend a few more bucks to show blood stains after several glass-window breakage and car accidents?

A conglomeration of music composers – Himesh Reshammiya, Yo Yo Honey Singh and Meet Bros. Anjan do well with their original compositions for a masala movie. Jumme Ki Raat and Yaar Na Mile find a place in our hearts for the beats. Salman has attempted to sing for the first time with “Hangover” and can be given a thumbs-up for that.

Rameshwar S. Bhagat, the editor, could have done away with some sequences and made this 146 minutes long commercial flick more compact. The climax does touch your heart and also reminds you of the real life “Human Being” Salman Khan actually is.

For those who expect a meaningful cinema with Salman’s presence shoudn’t take the risk of watching Kick. For the rest who have faith in Salman and want sheer two and a half hours of hardcore action, comedy, drama, and above all, entertainment can give it a try. You will not be disappointed.

“Knock knock, 300 crores here.”

Film trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-j1nx_HY5o

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