Alia, Sidharth, Katrina, Hrithik and Kangana pose for a picture with Nita Ambani
Bollywood A-listers turned out in full force for the opening ceremony of the 17th MAMI Mumbai International Film Festival, an event which is a platform for independent filmmakers to showcase their work. Actors Kangana Ranaut, Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt and Sidharth Malhotra, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and industrialist Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita led the roll call of celebrities at the event. (See Pics:
Kangana, Katrina, Ambanis Lead Celeb Roll Call at MAMI Film Festival)
Last year, the movie extravaganza was going through a financial crunch before it was resurrected through crowd-sourcing and social media campaigns, which saw participation of many Bollywood celebrities.
2 States star Alia said, "The festival has certainly gotten bigger and better. I am looking forward to watching many movies here. It is a great time to catch up."
Shahid actor Rajkummar Rao said he was excited to be part of the event as his movie Aligarh opened the festival.
"I feel fortunate. MAMI is a great platform and the festival is only getting better every year."
Sidharth praised the line-up of the films, even though he may not be able to watch all of them.
"Since I am busy shooting I won't be able to watch all the movies. But Kiran (Rao) has briefed me regarding the films and the line-up is impressive," he said.
From films like Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Haraamkhor, to classics like Guru Dutt's
Pyaasa, Satyajit Ray's
Apur Sansar and MS Sthyu's
Garam Hawa, MAMI offers a huge variety to cinema enthusiasts.
A new addition to the festival this year is Movie Mela. In the "Bollywood Next 5 years" segment, actors like Alia, Parineeti Chopra, Kriti Sanon, Arjun Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurana and Aditya Roy Kapur will be participating in panel discussions to be held on October 31 at Mehboob Studio.
Also in attendance were actors Aditya Roy Kapur, Huma Qureshi, Kartik Aaryan, director Ayan Mukerji, filmmaker Kabir Khan and his wife Mini Mathur.
Actors Varun Dhawan and Deepika Padukone will also be present for separate sessions.