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18th Mumbai Film Festival 2016, Festivals

18th JIO MAMI – The Events and The Star-struck Moments!

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18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016 – the Star-struck Moments!

written by Souranath Banerjee

To engage and communicate with the film buffs of our country Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival for the last few years has been amitabh-and-jaya-bachchanincluding multiple interactive sessions and events that make the overall experience of the film festival all the more interesting!

So here are some of the best events of this year!

MOVIE MELA:

Jio MAMI Movie Mela with Star ended on a high note with three panel discussions and up close and personal chats with some of the most celebrated names in the Indian film industry.

Panel One: VR discussion with Gabo Arora, Raja Koduri, Anand karan-johar-and-aishwarya-rai-bachchanGandhi and moderator Shakun Batra pondered upon current usage of virtual reality.

Panel Two: In conversation with Directors – Rohit Shetty, Zoya Akhtar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Gauri Shinde and Shoojit Sircar, moderated by film critic Rajeev Masand and Jio MAMI with Star, Festival Director Anupama Chopra.

Panel Three: Actor Shahid Kapoor in conversation with Rajeev Masand and Anupama Chopra about his journey in the industry so far.

PLAY SECTION ON WEB SERIES

Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star had an exciting day at PLAY, the youngest section which celebrates the digital narrative through the best of web series of India.

Panel one: The Writers Panel saw some interesting insights on how the web series content is driven to the young audience and how 18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016writers want to connect to the youth of India because television as a medium has nothing for them. This panel had Sumeet Vyas (TVF- Permanent Rommates & Tripling), Nidhi Bisht (TVF), Sattvik Mishra (ScoopWhoop), Varun Grover (Writer), Preetika Chawla (Actor-Producer), Naveen Richard (Writer-Actor) in conversation with Shreevasta Nevatia.

Panel two: The Business Panel had some industry experts talking about the business of web series and how profitable the model is? This panel included Sameer Saxena (TVF Originals), Anand Tiwari (Actor-Writer), Rohan Sippy (Producer), Ashish Patil (Y-Films), Samir Nair (Balaji Telefilms) and Swara Bhaskar (Actor) in 18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016conversation with curator Nikhil Taneja.

The Best of PLAY saw the team of TVF Permanent Roommates, TVF Tripling, Y-Films Sex chat with Pappu and Pappa, Not Fit by Dice Media and many more.

PLAY also world premiered some of the web series which included Little things (Pocket Aces), NRI (OML), Qisson ka Kona (OML), Ramsay Reloaded (101 India), Sneh (ScoopWhoop) and Yes Kaneez (OML).

SPECIAL SCREENING FOR THE UNDER PRIVILEGED YOUTH OF THE COUNTRY

Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star, in association with Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action (YUVA), presented a special anupama-chopra-and-kiran-raoscreening for the under privileged youth of the country. Le Reve (Globus), Bandra hosted the screening of ‘Shree Devi Phataka’, directed by Navin Chapade on October 23rd, 2016 for youth from the deprived areas of Mankhurd, Ambujwadi, Jogeshwari, Wadala, Chembur and few other parts of Maharashtra.

WOMEN IN FILM

Day Five at the Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star saw some great sessions for film as well as television audiences.

Starting from the Oxfam and Jio MAMI with Star Women in Film Brunch at JW Marriot saw some powerful like MAMI Chairperson, Kiran Rao, Oxfam head, Nisha Agarwal, Konkana SenSharma, Richa Chaddha, Poonam Dhillon, Ekta Kapoor, Leena Yadav, Deborah oxfam-women-in-film-pannelYoung, Maanvi Gagroo, Nidhi Singh and more.

Oxfam discussed Women and Films with Oxfam Head, Nisha Agarwal, Christine Vachon, Leena Yadav, Rucha Pathak, Tala Hadid, Vibha Bakshi, Tillotama Shome and moderator Rahul Bose. The discussion covered topics like the portrayal of women in Indian cinema and how it affects the way we portray their roles in our society.

And then there were some very interesting events to follow:

18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016Television Vertical screened the world premiere of ‘P.O.W.’ The panel included Primetime Emmy Winner Cary Fukunaga, Gideon Raff, Gaurav Banerjee and Nikkhil Advani in conversation with Nikhil Taneja about the changes in the way TV series have evolved over the years.

Mani Kaul’s tour de force, Ahamaq, was on the big screen for the ahamaq-reunion-posterfirst time. Uncut and in its pure form Ahamaq a nostalgic celebration. Present for the screening were cast including Mita Vashisht, Ashish Rajadhyaksha, D Wood, Vikram Joglekar and others.

Remembering Bimal Roy was a special tribute to someone who has a 18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016big contribution to our entire cinema heritage. Joy Bimal Roy, Jaya Bachchan, Apurva Asrani, Nasreen Munni Kabir, Namrata Joshi in conversation with Rauf Ahmed.

Events and Films, 18th JIO MAMI MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL with STAR 2016 a heaven for all you Cinema-Lovers. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy: mumbaifilmfest.com

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Film Reviews (Indian)

Haider (2014)

Video 2 Comments

My Ratings: 3.6/5

If Macbeth is Maqbool, Othello is Omkara then what does Hamlet stands for in Bollywood-adaptation language?

Hint1: The film is released on 2nd Oct but it’s full of violence!

Hint2: A gun is kept hidden inside the toilet to be used later but the film is not related to Coppola’s The Godfather by any chance.

Hint3: The film in a very sarcastic way pelts stones at Salman Khan flicks but luckily enough most of the Salman-fans are not accustomed to such clever sarcasm.

…

Ok on a serious note – Is Haider really THE film of this year? Vishal Bhardwaj’s best film till date? Or is it simply a ‘chutzpah’ – nothing more than a well-shot lineup of a popular Shakespearean tale haphazardly told using Kashmir as the backdrop?

Such conflicting film-reviews always make me feel like a monk who must set out on a journey alone in the search of the truth.

And yes, after watching Haider I must say it is one of the most cinematic films made in Bollywood. Applause for the cinematographer Pankaj Kumar.

The delicate emotions shot through the white translucent drapes, the colorfully lit wooden houses in the verge of destruction, a blood red woolen scarf on the white snow, the golden hued flames from the fireplace gently reflected on Ophelia’s hair … and many more of such beautiful images that promises to linger around in your memory for a long time.

Wait, did I say Ophelia?

I must have meant Arshia (Shraddha Kapoor), the second love of Haider’s life.

The first one of course being his own mother Ghazala (Tabu). Fortunately the role of the invisible King Oedipus is handled in a very subtle and matured way.

Again Haider is a film that doesn’t shy off from it’s attempt to show the real Kashmir (set around 1995), the agony of the locales in their daily life and their struggle to survive the police, the military and the numerous violent groups inflicting terror.

Since it’s an official adaptation the story is predictable but Vishal Bhardwaj as always has utilized his cast in a brilliant way to tell his own desi-version of Hamlet.

The script does seem a bit abrupt at times especially to include the unnecessary songs in the film.

For example the sudden romantic song sequence right after the tragic news of Haider’s father’s death, then the gravediggers keep singing while digging graves and while shooting people as well; and the never ending dance performance of Shahid Kapoor to convey a not so subtle message to his evil uncle Kay Kay Menon.

I really think Vishal Bhardwaj creates good music but that’s not an excuse to put unnecessary songs in regular intervals.

But these issues are shrouded by the brilliant acting performances by each and every actor in the film.

Shahid Kapoor did try his best to be the loony, melancholic Hamlet who talks to the skeleton head and plots his revenge. Shraddha Kapoor does her bit efficiently.

Kay Kay Menon and Irrfan Khan are both outstanding as usual, so natural and dynamic, though unfortunately they don’t share the screen space together in this film.

And of course Tabu is at her best, such a powerful actor who proves herself time and again. Her character is probably the toughest to play since it has many facets and conflicting desires. And what a splendid job she has done!

Overall a good film which could have been a great film. Honestly for me Omkara and Maqbool were more layered and well scripted than this one.

But never the less this disturbing combination of Hamlet and Kashmir is definitely worth a watch.

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