Mumbai film fest opens with star power
The 14th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival opened on Thursday, with Jaya Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Manisha Koirala, Anupam Kher and Sridevi in attendance for the opening ceremony. Bachchan and Sridevi, along with the filmmakers Ashutosh Gowariker and Ramesh Sippy, lit the ceremonial lamp for the eight-day film extravaganza. Other celebrities present at the opening event were the actors Kirron Kher, Rahul Bose, Ranvir Shorey and Bhavana Balsaver. This year's festival has a line-up of more than 230 movies from around the world, with special segments dedicated to French, Italian and Afghan cinema. The Hollywood comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook, starring Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and the Indian actor Anupam Kher, was the opening film. The festival will close on Thursday with an event marking the centenary of Indian cinema. * IANS
Anchor Jhansi Laxmi turns producer
The television anchor Jhansi Laxmi has turned Bollywood producer for a new English film titled All I Want is Everything. Directed by Sheetal Morjharia, the movie stars the all-female cast of Sagari Venkata, Sampada Harkara and Ayanta Mitchel. "It's the story of three women, on their friendship and how they deal with their day-to-day problems and find realistic solutions," said Laxmi. The film will premiere at the South Asian International Film Festival, to be held in Goa from Thursday to Sunday. * IANS
Jan Troell wins Stockholm film prize
The Stockholm Film Festival will give this year's lifetime achievement award to the Swedish director Jan Troell for what organisers say is his artistic ability to document "the essential" in his more than four decades-long career. Making his feature film debut in 1966 with Here's Your Life, Troell quickly rose to prominence after dramatising the Swedish writer Vilhelm Moberg's novels The Emigrants and The New Land. They earned Troell and his team several Oscar nominations. Troell, 81, has worked alongside actors such as Max Von Sydow. He will receive the award at a Stockholm ceremony during the November 7 to 18 film festival. * AP
Sting moves venue of Philippine concert
The rock star Sting has moved the location of his Back to Bass Tour concert in the Philippines following a petition by environmentalists who said the original venue is owned by a conglomerate that plans to uproot 182 trees for a car park and mall expansion in a northern mountain city. The SM Mall of Asia Arena said that changing the site of the December 9 concert was "the decision of the artist himself". The petition said that as a champion of the environment, "Sting can't be saving rainforests and enabling SM to rape the environment at the same time". The SM group is owned by the Philippines' richest man, the mall mogul Henry Sy. Sting is the founder of The Rainforest Foundation, which protects tropical rainforests and their people. * AP
Varun Dhawan elated with film reception
The filmmaker Karan Johar's new movie Student of the Year drew positive reviews for its three stars - the newcomers Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Siddharth Malhotra. Dhawan says he is overjoyed with the reception to his debut film. "I'm very excited. I never imagined this even in my wildest dreams, never thought of this kind of a reception," said the 24-year-old actor, the son of the director David Dhawan. "We have worked really hard. Karan has given a chance to newcomers like me. So please support the film because I want to entertain you more." Student of the Year is out in UAE cinemas. * IANS
