Rani Mukerji, Rajkumar Hirani, Freida Pinto, Vicky Kaushal kick off Indian Film Festival of Melbourne

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne , which celebrates richness and diversity of contemporary Indian cinema, has officially begun with the first event as the opening press conference which was organised on 10 August at Melbourne’s central business district. Touted as the largest film festival in the southern hemisphere, it brought together multiple Bollywood personalities including Rani Mukerji , Freida Pinto , Richa Chadha , Ali Fazal , Rajkumar Hirani , Vicky Kaushal , Abhijaat Joshi , Mrunal Thakur and comedian Saadiya Ali. [caption id=“attachment_4936201” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  IFFM’s first conference hosted Bollywood actors including Rani Mukerji, Freida Pinto and Ali Fazal[/caption] Mitu Bhowmick Lange, the director of the film festival introduced all the actors present at the press conference. [caption id=“attachment_4936221” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Mitu Bhowmick Lange, IFFM’s director addressing the guests[/caption] Martin Foley, the Minister of arts and culture flagged the start of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. [caption id=“attachment_4936251” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rani Mukerji (L) Minister Martin Foley (C) and Rajkumar Hirani (R)[/caption] Rani Mukerji who was the guest of honour talked about representing her country and fraternity as well as expressed gratitude towards the Victorian government for supporting the Bollywood industry. “The Indian film fraternity is so diverse, So many languages and cultures so it’s great to see films from various cultures under one roof,” she said. [caption id=“attachment_4936271” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rani Mukerji with Mitu Bhowmick Lange[/caption] Freida Pinto who will be soon in Tabrez Noorani’s  Love Sonia  along with Mrunal Thakur, Richa Chadha, Demi Moore , Anupam Kher, Manoj Bajpayee, Rajkummar Rao and Sai Tamhankar elaborated on giving a peep into the widespread epidemic of human trafficking and global sex trade network. “Love Sonia gives you a glimpse into the world of oval sex trafficking But it still doesn’t show the entire world of it. Also we didn’t want to make a gratuitous film. At the end of the day we want people to to understand the sense of what really happens in this part of the world and how much of it is kept away from us,” she articulated. [caption id=“attachment_4936291” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Mrunal Thakur (L), Tabrez Noorani (C) and Freida Pinto (R)[/caption]

Speaking about his attendance and _Sanju_ which dominated the nominations along with  _Padmaavat_ , director Rajkumar Hirani said, “Mitu (Mitu Bhowmick Lange) is an inspiration for many. She’s always been kind to have me here and I’m looking to IFFM. Australia is a great country and with Melbourne being such an amazing city, I’m looking forward to meeting people here”.

[caption id=“attachment_4936321” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rajkumar Hirani with Minister Martin Foley[/caption]

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne will screen over 60 films from all across India in more than 22 languages. Also, fans will get an opportunity to interact with their favourite Bollywood celebrities in events like Panel Discussions and Q&As post the screening.

[caption id=“attachment_4936341” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Rani Mukerji takes a selfie with a fan[/caption]