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.
When the matter came up for hearing, his lawyer Prashant Patil argued that the other co-accused in the case are already out on bail and the offences against Kundra attract a punishment of less than seven years, and hence deserved protection from arrest.
Held on Independence Day in association with GiveIndia, The World We Want and Facebook, the concert featured more than 100 entertainers, influencers and artistes, who performed and enthralled global audiences.
She was unanimously nominated by the MAMI's Board of Trustees comprising Nita M. Ambani (CoChairperson), Anupama Chopra (Festival Director). The board also welcomed two new members to its fold, acclaimed filmmaker Anjali Menon and renowned filmmaker and archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.
The 45-day gruelling schedule is filled with action sequences, and will see Salman and Katrina shoot in at least 5 international destinations including Austria and Turkey.
From singers like Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik, Javed Ali, rapper Mika Singh to Bollywood celebs Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, actress Soniya Kapoor and many more will be entertaining the audience with their songs and different acts.
Set in the backdrop of the 1971 War, with India backing freedom fighters in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) against Pakistan's oppression, and Pakistan attempting to forcefully bring India to the negotiating table by advancing across our western borders, this film is expected to stir the spirit of patriotism.
