Press release from the Indian Film Festival
Former Miss World and screen goddess, Priyanka Chopra; Bollywood superstar Shahid Kapoor; Tamil screen legend, Vijay; producer/director Kunal Kohli, producer Vicky Bahri, acclaimed designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee and animation director, Jugal Hansraj are the special guests at the opening night of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) on Monday 11 June. They will all attend a press conference on the morning of the festival and join in celebrations at the festival’s opening night.
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne is an initiative of the Victorian Government to strengthen cultural and trade ties between Victoria and India.
Festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange said, “We feel truly honoured to have such an extraordinary wealth of talent in Melbourne for the festival. It’s a fantastic opportunity for Melbourne film lovers to not only feast on the best new films from India but also engage with some of the industry’s leading talents in Q&As, masterclasses and discussions.”
Chopra, Kapoor, Bahri and Kohliare here to support the IFFM World Premiere of their new film Teri Meri Kahaanion Wednesday 20 June ahead of its international release on 21 June. Vijay will introduce his superhit, Nanbanon 12 June; Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Jugal Hansraj will present ‘Talking Through Fabric’ and ’Animation’ masterclasses on Wednesday 13 and 15 June respectively.
The festival’s opening night film is Kahaani (director Sujoy Ghosh),starring festival ambassador Vidya Balan. Ahuge critical and commercial hit in India, Kahaani demonstrates the new realism and sophistication in Indian filmmaking and is a perfect start for the festival. The closing night film is Memories in March. Director Rituparno Ghosh is a special guest of the festival and will attend the closing night celebrations as well as conducting a masterclass on realism in Indian Cinema on 21 June. Other festival guests include the screenwriting team of Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi who will present a ‘Thinking Through Laughter’ master class on 16 June.
Over its twelve days, IFFM is screening an extraordinary 40 films including 20 Australian premieres, celebrating the dizzying breadth of Indian film culture. The films range from Bengali art house to Hindi mass entertainment and South Indian action; from “masala” movies (lots of ingredients all cooked in the same pot) to regional art house plus a program of rarely seen films from the wider subcontinent including Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal, specially curated for the festival by acclaimed Indian New Wave director, Onir. The festival invites local filmmakers to strengthen ties and learn from the wealth of knowledge of India’s leading practitioners, presenting four master classes. The Western Union Short Film Competition winners from India, Australia and New Zealand will be presented with their awards and their films screened at a Gala on Tuesday 12 June.