Bollywood seeks passage to Iran

A festival showcasing independent non-mainstream movies may be an unlikely platform to promote Bollywood. But filmmaker Yash Chopra did just that at the closing ceremony of the Third Eye 5th Asian Film Festival on Thursday.

Until the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran was the biggest market of Bollywood films outside India. But Hindi films now reach Iranian audiences only through the state-run television network. Chopra, the guest of honour at the festival, requested renowned Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi to “use his good offices to ensure that Bollywood films made a comeback in Iran”.

As Chopra presented the Asian Film Culture Award to Majidi for his contribution to cinema, the audience gave the Iranian filmmaker a standing ovation. Majidi’s latest film The Weeping Willow was the closing film at the six-day festival, which had attracted delegates and cinema lovers from all over Asia.

“Receiving an award means an added responsibility for me as a filmmaker. Now, I will have to keep working harder to prove myself worthy of such honour,” Majidi, who does not speak English, conveyed to the audiences through an interpreter.

As the event came to a conclusion at Plaza Theatre, Dadar, the organisers expressed hope that the festival will be back next year on a bigger scale.

“The response is getting better every year. This time, there were 1500 delegates from several Asian countries while the screenings at Fun Republic, Metro Adlabs and YB Chavan Centre saw a decent turnout of cinema buffs,” said Kiran Shantaram, the organiser of the film festival.