Marathi international film awards to honour Amitabh

Dubai: Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will be the guest of honour at an awards show honouring films from the Indian state of Maharashtra later this month, it was announced here on Saturday.

The Marathi International Film and Theatre Awards (Mifta) will take place at the Palladium on December 17.

Mifta is the brainchild of Indian actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar, who directed Bachchan in the film Virudh.

"At one point, Marathi films were a pioneer in bringing good cinema into India," said Manjrekar in an interview with Gulf News.

"Remember that Dada Saheb Phalke [Marathi filmmaker] made India's first feature film and those were the glorious years.

"But with Mumbai's Hindi-language Bollywood industry getting global attention in recent years, Marathi films have taken something of a backseat, he said.

Manjrekar continued: "Through MIFTA, we want to make people aware about the existence of good, top-notch Marathi films. And we chose Dubai primarily because the Maharashtrians here have always patronised and supported good Marathi plays and cinema."

Stars of the Marathi film industry including Nana Patekar, Atul Kulkarni, Vikram Ghokale and Sachin Khedekar will also jet into town for the evening.

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