Somewhat quaintly acronymed as MAMI, the aunty of all festivals is about to get going in Mumbai. It’s the 13th edition of the city’s largest and longest-surviving international film festival. And it opens on the Wednesday the 13th. “It’ll be a lucky day for us,” choruses the team of the event’s programmers, managers and assorted coordinators.

Hundreds of international and Indian films — old and new — have been scheduled in the suburbs and at the Metro cinema in south Mumbai. The top ticket will undoubtedly be Lars von Trier’s Melancholia. The Danish director has a loyal following among the cineastes, besides his work is replete with provocative content. Last year, there wasn’t a seat to spare for any of the shows of Von Trier’s Antichrist.
The Mumbai Film Festival, organised by the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (now you know, why MAMI), is supported by the Reliance group, which essentially means Ms Tina Ambani. Among its board of advisors count Shyam Benegal and Shabana Azmi. However, quite plainly no festival can fly without a cinema-literate chief. Fortuitously, the snow-bearded Srinavasan Narayan, is the chief, bringing to the festival his impeccable record of two decades of service as general manager of the National Film Development Corporation. Remember the good old NFDC?
So that’s the upbeat news. On the downside, this year, no international film personality of any consequence, agreed to fly down to the city to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award given by...er...MAMI. Last time around, director Oliver Stone had been feted with the award bestowed upon a global film personality.
For 2011, the top choice was Robert De Niro. He sent his regrets. Ditto Martin Scorsese who isn’t exactly a India lover since he was denied permission to shoot his film Kundun by the New Delhi powers-that-sanction.
Till the last minute, efforts were being made to invite Jane Fonda to accept the award but her office staff would neither say yes or no. Subsequently, the mails, faxes and phone calls to the La Fonda’s office in Los Angeles-New York were stopped.
The international competition jury, does have big names. Hugh Hudson of Chariots of Fire is the jury’s president. Jerzy Skolimowski, the eminent Polish director, is also on the jury. Inside news is that Tabu refused to be on the jury for reasons unknown. She has been replaced by Sarika.
Oscar-winner and the much-adored lyricist-filmmaker-writer Gulzar will be presented the Lifetime Achievement Award this year. Twelve months ago, the awardee had been actor-producer- director Manoj Kumar. Curiously Waheeda Rehman had nixed the award, saying that she had already received far too many Lifetime Achievement honorifics.
Tributes will be paid to the late Shammi Kapoor, M.F. Husain and Mani Kaul. Attempts were made to get permission to screen Elizabeth Taylor’s Ivanhoe, Cleopatra or her Oscar-winner BUtterfield 8. No go, not even a DVD print, since no official permission could create unnecessary issues.
Vis-à-vis Husain, the tribute will be paid by screening his Berlin Golden Bear-winning documentary Through the Eyes of a Painter, acquired from the Films Division.
Attempts were also being made to programme a 25-minute documentary showing the artist paint to the rhythm of a Bhimsen Joshi concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
The international film festival season, in effect, kicks of with er..MAMI. It has acquired a stature to be sure, paralleled only by the Kerala International Film Festival (KIFF?), in Thiruvananthapuram, come December.