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.
After losing 2 legendary actors Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan and while Bollywood has yet to find closure with their passing away, the entertainment industry has gotten a sudden jolt with the death of 34 year old actor Sushant Singh Rajput. He committed suicide at his residence in Mumbai. Sushant was much loved for his performances on the small screen as well as in movies.
Shoojit Sircar's Gulabo Sitabo, starring Amitabh Bachchan and Ayushmann Khurrana, and Vidya Balan’s Shakuntala Devi are two films that shall be skipping theatres and releasing online.
Darpan Magazine host Ish sharma chills out with the lovely & talented Shashaa Tirupati who has made her mark in the world's largest entertainment industry ie BOLLYWOOD as a playback singer for some of the most renowned directors such as A R RAHMAN!
Some sad news out of Bollywood 93 year old filmmaker Basu Chatterjee passed due to age related health issues. The last rites were conducted at a crematorium in Santacruz.
Singer and composer Wajid Khan of duo Sajid-Wajid is no more. Starting their career in 1998 with Salman Khan-starrer Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya, Sajid-Wajid scored music for many films of the superstar including Dabangg franchise, Chori Chori, Hello Brother, Wanted and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
