MAMI to fight film piracy

In a first for any film festival in the country, the Mumbai Film Festival to be held from Oct 18 to 25 has joined forces with former Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Chief AA Khan to fight this menace
In a first for any film festival in the country, the Mumbai Film Festival (Oct 18-25) has joined forces with former Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) Chief AA Khan to fight the bane of film piracy. The move is aimed at protecting the interests of film production companies, independent producers, film distributors and cinema operators participating in the festival.
India has the dubious reputation of being one of the most thriving markets for film piracy, particularly the variety carried out through camcorders. Khan’s organisation called AA Khan and Associates actively works against film piracy in the country.
Says Khan, “The menace of piracy is growing and it is up to all of us to eradicate this problem that affects the social and economical ethos of the country and the world,”
The festival will also see the premiere of the Bond documentary titled Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007 directed by Stevan Riley of Fire in Babylon fame, along with exclusive footage from the much anticipated Bond movie Skyfall. So far, the Bond documentary has only been released in the UK.
In a tribute to the late Rajesh Khanna, a special segment of the festival will be dedicated to the ‘First superstar of Hindi cinema’. Among the movies showcased in this section will be the 1969 Shakti Samantha film, Aradhana starring Khanna and Sharmila Tagore.
The Mumbai Film Festival willalsopayhomagetotheother two veteran actors that the film industry lost earlier this year: Dara Singh and AK Hangal. Singh’s Samson and Hangal’s Dattak will be screened at the fest. The Mumbai Film Festival is organised by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI).