Deepti Naval awarded with Excellence in Cinema Award at 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival

MUMBAI: Veteran actor Deepti Naval has been awarded with the Excellence in Cinema Award at the opening ceremony of the 21st Jio Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) Mumbai Film Festival with Star on Thursday.

Filmmaker Vishal Bharadwaj and actor Deepika Padukone took the honour of presenting the award to her. Naval stepped into the world of cinema with her debut in "Junoon" in 1978. In her career over 40 years, she has acted in more than 60 films. Some of her major works include "Kamla", "Chashme Baddoor", "Mirch Masala", "Rang Birangi", "Firaaq", "Leela" and "Memories in March". Deepti Naval last being Zoya Akhtar's web-series "Made in Heaven".

The 21st Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival began on Thursday night that witnessed Bollywood celebrities like Deepika, Bhardwaj, Karan Johar, Taapsee Pannu, Kiran Rao, Nandita Das, Sudhir Mishra, Tannishtha Chatterjee and others.

The eight-day festival will showcase over 190 films, including over 50 debuts, 13 world premieres, spanning over 53 countries and 49 diverse languages.

According to reports, Filmmaker Geetu Mohandas' acclaimed Malayalam drama "Moothon" (The Elder One) was the opening film of the festival and "Saand Ki Aankh" starring Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar will be the last film to be screened.

The festival will also showcase some of the best international films like James Gray's "Ad Astra", starring Brad Pitt.

"Honey Boy" by Alma Har'el, British filmmaker Joanna Hogg’s "The Souvenir", British filmmaker Ken Loach's "Sorry We Missed You", "The Irishman", "Marriage Story", "The Two Popes", "Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator" are also among others.

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