A starry affair: Bollywood celebs flag off Indian Film Festival of Melbourne
Darpan News Desk IANS, 12 Aug, 2022 03:17 PM
Mumbai, Aug 12 (IANS) Bollywood celebrities such as Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vaani Kapoor, Tamannaah Bhatia, Shefali Shah, among many others, flagged off the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne to its physical form in Australia with its 13th edition.
Other personalities who were a part of this include singer Sona Mohapatra, former cricketer and ex captain of India Kapil Dev and filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Kabir Khan, Aparna Sen, Nikkhil Advani and Shoojit Sircar.
The festival, which kicked off on Friday (August 12), will conclude on August 20.
Commenting on the occasion, Abhishek Bachchan, who is "absolutely loving" being in the moment in Melbourne, is excited to watch the screening of his 'Manmarziyaan' co-star Taapsee Pannu's upcoming film 'Dobaaraa'.
He said, "I'm looking forward to watching 'Dobaaraa'. My almost entire family has represented India here and I'm very proud of it. I'm looking forward to being part of all the celebrations and I thank the government and Mitu for having me here. It feels great to be given the Leadership in Cinema award".
The actors took to the podium in presence of a special audience to announce this year's programme schedule with 'Dobaaraa' being the opening night film.
Other events lined up apart from the screening of over 120 films are the Independence Day Celebrations of India and an array of panel discussions amongst other specially curated events.
When asked about the South and Hindi film debate at the festival, actress Tamannaah Bhatia said, "I think this conversation is only unique to India, whenever I travel abroad I never hear people distinguish, they simply call it Indian cinema. And such is the case even here at IFFM."
She feels that the audience wants to see pan India films as more of such content is being made and being admired by all.
The Mumbai Sessions Court granted bail to Kundra and his co-accused Ryan Thorpe - both nabbed on July 19 - six days after the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on September 15 filed a 1,400-page supplementary charge sheet naming them as among the prime accused.
Shilpa further stated that Kundra had launched Viaan Industries Ltd around April 2015 and she was on the board till July 2020 when she quit owing to personal reasons, as stated in the charge sheet filed by the police on Wednesday against Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe.
Kundra, 45, was arrested on July 19 in the sensational case in which there are several other accused, and the charge sheet running into around 1,500 pages, has been lodged before a Mumbai magistrate court.
Sidharth died due to a heart attack on September 2, triggering an avalanche of images on the social media sharing platforms celebrating his memories. Be it from his show, 'Balika Vadhu' or several other reality shows, even the once shared by the actor in the past.
The actress sported a co-ord set in neon hues of blue and pink worn over a sports bra. Minimal makeup, wavy locks and a few accessories were all she needed to complete the look.
