Thaindian News

Mumbai, Aug 27 (IANS) Yesteryears actor Shashi Kapoor, who enthralled cinegoers with his performances in blockbusters like “Deewar” and “Namak Halal”, will be honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the 11th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) to be held here Oct 29-Nov 5.
Shashi Kapoor, who started his career as a child artist with his brother’s film “Awara”, went on to feature in movies like “Kala Patthar”, “Kabhi Kabhie”, “Shaan” and “Trishul”. He also produced crtiically acclaimed movies like “Junoon”, “Kalyug”, “36 Chowringhee Lane”, “Vijeta”, and “Utsav”.

Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos will also be bestowed the international lifetime achievement award at the film festival, which is an initiative by Reliance Big Entertainment and being organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI).

“Our audience will be treated to the works of Shashi Kapoor and Angeloupolous, two filmmakers to be honoured with lifetime achievement awards. Both have traversed a long path and made a distinctive niche for themselves in world cinema,” renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal, the chairperson of MAMI, said in a press release.

This year the MFF will also organise an exhibition to commemorate and celebrate 60 years of evergreen actor Dev Anand’s production house Navketan Films. A retrospective from Navketan will be screened to mark the occasion.

Divided into five sections — International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors, World Cinema, Indian Showcase, Dimensions Mumbai and Retrospectives, the festival offers something to every film buff.

“The 11th MFF will showcase the best in contemporary Indian cinema even while it takes a look back at cinema down the ages. We also want to encourage young film talent and have a forum for that,” said Benegal.

The festival will have a five member international jury including the likes of celebrated Hollywood scriptwriter-director Paul Schrader, who penned “Taxi Driver” and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.

MFF carries some of the biggest cash awards for its International Competition of First Feature Films of Directors category. These debut features will compete for the cash award of about $100,000 (Rs.5 million) and Golden Gateway India trophy for the best film and the Silver Gateway India and cash prize of about $50,000 (Rs.2.5 million) for the Jury Grand Prize.

The best talent from these films will be given Silver Gateway India. This year MAMI is introducing a $20,000 Audience Choice Award (about Rs.1 million). Films from all sections except retrospective and tributes will compete for this award.

The movies will be screened at Fun Republic 4 screens multiplex in Andheri, which will be the central venue of the 11th MFF. However, festival films will also be screened at Metro BIG Cinema and other theatres.