MAMI 2024 opens with ‘All We Imagine...’ screening; Shabana Azmi receives Excellence in Cinema award

Mumbai: The 2024 edition of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival opened with a full-house screening of filmmaker Payal Kapadia's Cannes Grand Prix winner "All We Imagine As Light" and veteran actor Shabana Azmi being honoured with the Excellence in Cinema Award.

The latest edition of the film gala, organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, officially kicked off at the Regal cinema in South Mumbai on Friday evening.

"All We Imagine As Light", which made history as the first film from India to win the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in May, is a Malayalam-Hindi language movie about Prabha (Kani Kusruti), a Mumbai nurse whose life is thrown into disarray when she receives a rice cooker from her estranged husband.

Divya Prabha plays Anu, her roommate and colleague, who struggles to find a private spot in the city to spend time with her boyfriend. Prabha’s best friend Parvati (Chhaya Kadam), a widow, is being forced out of her home by property developers.

Kapadia, along with actors Chhaya Kadam, Divya Prabha, Hridhu Haroon, and Rana Daggubati, was welcomed with applause and a standing ovation.

"All We Imagine As Light" is an Indo-French co-production between Petit Chaos from France and Chalk and Cheese Films from India, with Ranabir Das (who also served as the cinematographer on the film) as the Indian producer. It is distributed in India by Spirit Media, a production house founded by Daggubati.

Shabana Azmi was honoured with Excellence in Cinema Award by legendary actor Waheeda Rehman in recognition of her contributions to Indian cinema. The festival also celebrated 50 years of Azmi’s career with a special screening of her iconic film "Arth".

“Filmmaking is a collaborative medium. Actors get most of the prominence because they are in front of the camera, but they know there’s a whole team behind the scenes working to enhance strengths and cover weaknesses.

"Film is a director’s medium. I’ve never been able to rise above the director or the role. So, I want to thank all the directors I’ve worked with, from Shyam Benegal to Steven Spielberg,” Azmi said.

Rehman praised Azmi, highlighting her performance in Karan Johar's 2023 film "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani".

"I’m nothing compared to Shaukat aapaa and Kaifi sahab (Shabana's parents), so what can I say about Shabana? She is a great artist. When "Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani" came out, I wondered what Shabana would do, but I knew Karan Johar and Shabana would create magic,” Rehman said.

Azmi’s acting journey began with Shyam Benegal’s "Ankur". Over the years, she has starred in socially relevant films that pushed the boundaries of Indian cinema, with performances in "Arth", "Masoom", "Mandi", "Fire", "Godmother", "Paar", "Neerja", and "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani", among others.

The opening ceremony was attended by filmmakers like Kabir Khan, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vishal Bhardwaj (who came with his wife Rekha), Hansal Mehta, and Onir, along with actors Pratik Gandhi, Shriya Pilgaonkar, and Jim Sarbh, among others.

The Mumbai Film Festival, running from October 19 to 24 at two venues, Regal Cinema and Juhu PVR, will showcase over 110 films from more than 45 countries, spanning more than 50 languages.

The closing film of the festival is "Anora" by Sean Baker, which won the top prize, the Palme d'Or, at the 77th Cannes Film Festival.

Films such as Sandhya Suri's "Santosh", Shuchi Talat's "Girls Will Be Girls", and Cannes winners "The Substance" and "Emilia Perez" are part of the MAMI lineup as well.

In the South Asia competition, films like "Agent of Happiness" by Arun Bhattarai, "Kiss Wagon" by Midhun Murali, "Little Jaffna" by Lawrence Valin, "Nocturnes" by Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan, "Pooja, Sir" by Deepak Rauniyar, "Rhythm of a Flower (Phool Ka Chand)" by Amit Dutta, "Shambhala" by Min Bahadur Bham, "The Fable" by Raam Reddy, and "Village Rockstars 2" by Rima Das will be shown.

Feature films for this year include "A Fly on the Wall" by Nilesh Maniyar, "Shonali Bose Angammal" by Vipin Radhakrishnan, "Boong" by Lakshmipriya Devi, "Humans in the Loop" by Aranya Sahay, "In Retreat (Be-qayaam)" by Maisam Ali, "Marching in the Dark" by Kinshuk Surjan, "The Real Superstar" by Cédric Dupire, "The Shameless" by Konstantin Bojanov, "The Sharp Edge of Peace" by Roya Sadat, and "Wild Flower Garland (Katu Pootha Malay)" by Udayraj P.J.

The festival will also screen restored classics, including Girish Kasaravalli's "Ghatashraddha" and Azmi’s "Arth".