16th Mumbai Film Festival to open today

After struggling to stand on its feet post the exit of chief sponsors Reliance, the 16th Mumbai Film Festival is finally up and running courtesy Bollywood who chipped in to keep India's premiere film festival afloat. The festival still shorn of its usual grandeur will commence this evening with an opening ceremony that will be held at single screen theater, Chandan. Attending the event would be Bollywood bigwigs Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, French actress Catherine Deneuve and Helen. The venue this time around has been shifted to the western suburbs with PVR Andheri, Cinemax Versova and single screen theater Chandan being the three movie halls that will screen the movies. The movie is sure to put South Mumbai residents at a great discomfort as last year had Metro and Liberty as two main screening centers. Adding to the inconvenience is the organisers decision to restrict the media to the red carpet of the opening ceremony, a move that smacks of illogical decision making. Not to forget the confusion reigning about the show timings for 15 October, the day when Maharashtra goes to polls and has been declared a public holiday. These discomforts notwithstanding, let's hope the movies slated to be screened salvages the pride of the beleagured film festival.