BLUE CHIPS OXYGENATE MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL(MAMI) 2015
by Ronita Torcato
A couple of blue chips have freshly oxygenated the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image's filmfest which was resuscitated by two film professionals, Kiran Rao and Anupama Chopra who unveiled the upcoming 17th Mumbai Film Festival (29th October-5th November ) new brand identity with its new sponsor partners.
"We are delighted Reliance Jio and Star Network see the rightful potential of MAMI and have joined hands with us to take the festival to the next level," said Kiran Rao, Chairperson, MAMI.
“Films are a celebration of life – they add to life joy and colour; they educate us, provoke us and make us think; they make us laugh. Films influence our own lives in many ways. ” said Nita M. Ambani, Chairperson, Reliance Foundation.
Unveiling the new logo for MAMI's 17th edition, Festival Director Chopra said, “Eighteen years ago, stalwarts of Indian cinema including Hrishikesh Mukherji and Shyam Benegal, created a film festival for Mumbai. It gives me great pride and joy to carry forward the MAMI baton. It’s an enormous responsibility but we have enormous support.”
" We believe it is our responsibility to leverage the power of our network to build India as a leading destination for a world class film festival and we hope that our endeavour will establish MAMI as a platform for excellence in cinema," said Star India VP (Mktg & Comm) Gayatri Yadav ( standing in for Star India COO Sanjay Gupta)
MAMI issued its Call for Entries through a specially produced film featuring actors Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt as well as directors, Karan Johar, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raju Hirani, along with Chaitanya Tamhane, winner of the Best Film award in the International Competition at last year's MAMI.
Earlier this year in February, Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director,Toronto International Film Festival( TIFF ) and Natalie Lue, Vice-President, Production and Visitor Experience (TIFF) were in Mumbai to conduct a series of workshops for MAMI, Mumbai’s only film festival that is created and run by film professionals and representatives of corporate India. The newly appointed MAMI team includes filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Vikramaditya Motwane, actor Riteish Deshmukh, actress Deepika Padukone, Siddharth Roy Kapur, MD, Disney, Ajay Bijli, Chairman & MD, PVR and Anand Mahindra, Chairman & MD, Mahindra Group.
