Cinema is a truly shared wealth: Tina Ambani, patron, Mumbai Academy of Moving Image

October 18, 2012
Tina-Ambani

When a group of film industry stalwarts headed by late Hrishikesh Mukherjee founded the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) as a not-for-profit trust, they envisioned an annual International Film Festival as a tribute to good cinema. Chaired by Shyam Benegal, it has grown over the years to include the best of world cinema. The latest avatar of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF), beginning Thursday, promises a stellar lineup of over 200 movies. MAMI patron Tina Ambani speaks to Nandini Raghavendra on what to look forward to at the festival:

It's the 14th edition of MAMI. How has this journey been?

Mumbai is the cradle of Indian cinema - this city has nurtured my own aspirations as a young actor and these strong roots, these unshakeable bonds have nourished my passion for cinema over the years. The festival is an event that has always been dear to my heart.

Which films are you looking forward to watching this year?

It really is a lavish spread this year and every cineaste is spoilt for choice. Personally, I am looking forward to watching the Cannes Golden Palm winner Amour by Michael Haneke, a moving story about ageing and love; the much-awaited Silver Linings Playbook starring Robert De Niro and our very own Anupam Kher, which is the opening film. The screenings of Luchini Viscontti's The Leopard also promise to be fascinating as well as restored films Kalpana by Uday Shankar and Once Upon a Time in America by Sergio Leone.

In fact, the two celebrations - of Italian cinema and the 100 years of Indian cinema - bridge a centenary of filmmaking in both countries. Where else can you see 102-year-old Manoel de Oliviera and Alain Resnais, 90 years young, on the same platform as Kauwboy, the award-winning children's film?

Two restored classics from renowned Italian directors Maciste (1915) and Inferno (1911) are being showcased. How critical is it to restore and preserve world cinema classics?

Cinema is a universal language that is a truly shared wealth. Preserving its heritage is an imperative. At Reliance Mediaworks, too, we undertake major restoration projects of films from across the world. And this year, the festival will feature India's first key panel on restoration and preservation of films with leading speakers from 20th Century Fox, Cineteca Bologna, World Cinema Foundation, Film Foundation and the Motion Pictures Academy Archives.

Do you think we have ignored our language directors at the cost of mainstream Bollywood cinema?

I'd like to emphasise that we are a 'discovery' film festival; with India Gold 2012, the new competition section for Indian films, the platform is the same for both debut directors and renowned filmmakers. In New Faces in Indian Cinema, we feature the 1st and 2nd films of Indian directors; and in Film India Worldwide, we show films that have emerged from the diaspora. This is also, perhaps, the first time that two Indian films have been included in international competition for outstanding content. We offer a level playing field for all cinema never mind where it comes from, what language it is in, or who has made it. That is the bottom line.



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News Network
May 8,2020

London, May 8: Actor Florence Pugh says the most terrifying aspect of starring in the upcoming superhero film "Black Widow" was doing the Russian accent.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe's stand-alone film, the Oscar-nominated actor plays Yelena Belova, a sister-figure to Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff/ the titular Black Widow who was trained in the Red Room.

"I was scared because my Russian accent was going to be out there and I didn't know what it sounded like.

"I'm also playing a character who no-one's seen before but they've read about her. I didn't know whether people were going to hate me!" Pugh told ELLE UK for its June issue.

The 24-year-old actor also said the idea of joining the MCU itself was quite "daunting".

"When you think of Marvel, it's big and daunting. Especially being a relatively small actor to look at it and go, 'Oh! I'm going to be a part of this', that's a big decision," she said.

"Black Widow", which was scheduled to hit the theatres on May 1, will now release on November 6 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Directed by Cate Shortland, the film also stars David Harbour and Rachel Weisz.

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News Network
March 11,2020

Mar 11: The shooting of Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai has been completed, and the film will now release on schedule.

If one recalls, the film went on the floors in the first week of November 2019 and was supposed to be Salman’s fastest completed film. However, the movie faced a variety of roadblocks — It was first to be wrapped in the first week of February, “But Salman went off to his Panvel farmhouse after the release of Dabangg 3 and spent a while there ushering in his birthday,” a source reveals.

“Then, the extension of the show Bigg Boss 13 by five weeks also turned out to be another speed breaker. Then, Salman wanted to make sure that the film was being made as good as what his audiences wanted on Eid. He made sure that his director Prabhudeva got what he wanted from the performers and didn’t want to rush him.

"Additionally, the Azerbaijan schedule of the film also got cancelled as Salman did not want to take any chances with the cast and crew with the lurking Covid 19, and rescheduled the shoot in India. This is now complete, barring any patchwork that might emerge later,” our source adds.

Radhe is slated to be an Eid release, which will clash with Akshay Kumar’s Laxmmi Bomb.

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News Network
June 19,2020

New Delhi, Jun 19: After the recent sudden demise of Sushant Singh Rajput, actor Kangana Ranaut who went public slamming nepotism in the Hindi film industry, has now revealed that she faced similar struggles like that of Sushant.

In a new statement, the "Queen" actor alleged that she was asked to apologise to Hrithik Roshan's family in order to survive. Both Kangana and Hrithik had been in the public spotlight in the year 2016 over their alleged former relationship and legal battle.

The 'Queen' actor said: "Once Javed Akhtar had called me to his house and told me that Rakesh Roshan and his family are very big people. If you don't apologise to them, you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to you will have nowhere to go. They will put you in jail, and eventually, the only path would be that of destruction...you will commit suicide. These were his words. Why did he think if I don't apologise to Hrithik Roshan, I would have to commit suicide? He shouted and yelled at me. I was shaking in his house,"

She further continued, "Were there people calling Sushant? Were there people putting such thoughts into his mind? I have no idea, but obviously, he was in a similar situation. In his interviews, he had said that nepotism cannot co-exist with talent because they don't allow the right talent to come up. I can relate to it, and hence I am raising questions. I want to know who played the catalyst in this situation?"

Kangana adds, "I know Sushant had a big fallout with Aditya Chopra also. When I refused Sultan, he had threatened he would never work with me. Ever since our industry ganged up on me. I remember so many times feeling really lonely and feeling what will happen to me..."

The 'Manikarnika' star also revealed that all this not only happened to her professionally but personally as well it hampered her relationships. "They are very insecure about things. Despite what they did to me, there was a guy who wanted to get married to me. But he distanced himself, they made sure he ran away. With no surety about my career, my love-life completely has gone awry, with six court-cases against me, they're still trying to put me in jail."

Kangana also talked about herself: "I'm a different person; I'm very expressive. I went out there, and I just vented it out. Sushant was not a person like that at all. He just bottled it up. Media too has played a considerable part in this--the kind of monster image that was given to him. Everybody who knew him closely agrees that he was a soft and emotional person. I think that after a point it really got to him. I can understand it because even I have been portrayed as a witch and as a stalker."

Sharing that the bullying and outbursts had a psychological impact on her life situations, Kangana says, "I remember initially when people used to come to my home, I felt so embarrassed to even offer them water. Forget having a relationship or going on a date post the disaster of a relationship I had. I can only imagine that even during Manikarnika what they did to me."

Talking about the 'Kai Po Che' star, she added, "But perhaps he was just not able to vent. In fact, all these constant jibes on these petty show that he should be killed and which rated him as the least efficient... his films have done more business than your Gully Boy. People like Salman Khan said who Sushant Singh Rajput? It was after M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story, everybody knew who Sushant was. We need to stop these."

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