Film lovers not losing hope for Mumbai Film Festival

For a city that homes one of the biggest film industries on the planet itrsquos quite ironical that its premier film festival is facing an existential crisis Mumbai Film Festival MFF organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image MAMI is scheduled to run from October 14 to October 21Jaya Bachchan left and Sridevi at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival MFF that was held in October 2012 With MFFrsquos main sponsor pulling out mdash citing lack of profit mdash the film festrsquos fate hangs in the balance PicAFPHowever that seems uncertain given the event hasnrsquot attracted any major sponsor for the first time since the turn of the century Reliance Entertainment backed the annual event for five straight years before deciding to pull the plug last year citing lack of profit As a result the celebrated film fest is struggling to raise an estimated amount of R5 crore that is required for the function to take place And so far the crowdfunding measures have attracted an encouraging response from celebs and cinephiles on social media But still itrsquos a long journey ahead and time is running outAnand Gandhirsquos acclaimed debut Ship of Theseus was first screened in India at MFFLast year the festival showcased over 200 films from more than 65 countries In 2012 Anand Gandhirsquos Ship of Theseus was screened at the festival making its debut in the country Later it was not only shown but was also internationally feted at several film festivals In fact the directorial debut finally earned a commercial release last year No wonder Gandhi is saddened by his favourite film festivalrsquos current state of affairs ldquoItrsquos really hurtful I donrsquot understand how the corporate structure doesnrsquot fit in with cinema in a country like ours where everybody likes to watch movies To me Reliance backing off is bottomline shameful The company is way too big to say that itrsquos not making profit with the film festivalrdquo adds the directorMarathi feature film Fandry earned critical appreciation as well as awardsGandhi has a point because in the West corporate involvement in international film festivals is commonplace The mantra is simple the corporate world can do with some visibility that cinema tends to offer on a plateBlame gameRegardless itrsquos difficult to blame any one party for the issue The argument doing the rounds is how the Hindi film industry which boasts of R100 crore blockbusters can do a lot more to sustain a cultural event Moreover R5 crore seems like a meager amount when you look at the extravagance that Bollywood is so used to But then the other side of argument is itrsquos not incumbent on film studios to help run a film festivalUmesh KulkarniThe United States of America which boasts of the most number of film festivals in the world sticks to the corporate structure However organisers are generally headed by independent bodies mdash not film studios mdash who have the final say in everything from which films are to be screened to who is going to win the awardsSpeaking of awards out of its estimated budget Mumbai Film Festival spent about a crore on handing out prize money to the competition winnersPutting valueFilmmaker Rohan Sippy is a selfconfessed fan of the Mumbai Film Festival He fondly remembers the inaugural year of the fest Back then he assisted his father filmmaker Ramesh Sippy with the first edition And he too disapproves of the dismal situation ldquoIn an ideal world sponsors would be queuing up considering the pull movies have in our daytoday life Unfortunately thatrsquos not happeningrdquoEarly bloomersTo put it succinctly the Mumbai Film Festival is not just about providing a weeklong visual treat for the aam janta Many a times Indian filmmakers whose works are appreciated worldwide get a chance to showcase the same to the local crowd For instance Ashim Ahluwaliarsquos Miss Lovely won multiple awards including Best Film in the India Gold category at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival This happened a few months after his film was screened at the Cannes Film FestivalAshim talks about what might be the crux of the financial problem ldquoWhether itrsquos Cannes or Venice money is a major ingredient but at the same time patience is a priceless commodity too We ought to have patrons because itrsquos not just cinema we are talking about here Culture is also a matter of concern isnrsquot it The corporate world doesnrsquot seem to understand thisrdquoSupport baseLast year The Lunchbox made a lot of headlines not only in India but also in foreign shores Interestingly the celebrated movie wasnrsquot screened at the Mumbai Film Festival However the filmrsquos leading actress Nimrat Kaur has been an regular attendee of the festival for quite some time now ldquoIf it werenrsquot for this film festival I would have missed out on some really good uncensored films Of course in todayrsquos age one can download to watch these acclaimed films but what can replace the thrill of watching them on the big screenrdquo asks the actressRegional fareSome of the finest regional films have been showcased and appreciated at this fest Last year the Marathi feature film Fandry received a lot of accolades for its grim but honest portrayal of class divide It was screened for the first time in India at this fest later on it won an award in the international film category as well The filmrsquos ensuing journey culminated with the film earning a commercial release this year on Valentinersquos DayDirector Nagraj Manjule is hopeful that the 16th edition goes ahead as per plan and manages to run with as fewer glitches ldquoRegional cinema can flourish thanks to festivals such as these mdash itrsquos a boon especially for regional filmmakers They watch and inculcate values and lessons that will shape their thinking as filmmakersrdquoUmesh Kulkarni whose films Vihir 2009 and Deool 2011 were screened at the festival agrees ldquoI hope the film festival goes ahead Itrsquod be a huge loss to the society itrsquos not just about money A festival nourishes both filmmakers as well as the audiences and you canrsquot put a price tag to that accomplishmentrdquo he points outHistory repeats itselfIn 1998 the second edition of the festival couldnrsquot take place due to lack of funds However the event took place the following year and hasnrsquot skipped a single year since ldquoI hope they manage to pull it off this year To me it is more about the cultural pluses than the commercial minuses The event needs patrons and sponsors and if it works out well and good If they donrsquot they should at least aim at coming back with a bang next yearrdquo says filmmaker Rohan Sippy