| Festival Patron, Yash Chopra |
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No other director in Bollywood history has stayed at the top
for as long as Yash Raj; over fifty years and counting. As a
director he made Amitabh Bachchan an icon in the seminal
'Deewar' and his own name became synonymous with romance.
As a producer he created a studio, Yash Raj Films, which is so
successful he can fund his own movies. His untitled directorial
comeback, following a break of eight years, is out later this year
and stars Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif. We’re honoured to
have Indian cinema’s own King Midas as our Festival Patron. |
| Message from the Festival Patron |
| “Congratulations, Melbourne, on the launch of your own
Indian Film Festival! It is a great delight to me that your
wonderful, multicultural city now has a place to enjoy the very best of Indian cinema, the
largest film industry in the world. In the hundred years since our first feature, we have
reached an annual audience of over three billion people and globalisation is leading to
greater ties between our filmmaking communities. I wish the festival, and all the short
filmmakers in your global competition, every success! ” |
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| Advisory Board |
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Ronnie Screwvala
Ronnie Screwvala is an Indian film producer and founder, CEO and chairman of UTV Group. From helping to introduce Indians to cable TV and daily soap operas, Ronnie has staked out a powerful position within the Indian broadcasting, internet and production industries. |
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is credited with having
transformed the Indian film
business by establishing
modern standards of
studio efficiency and
professionalizing the movie production business in
India with the introduction
of foreign investors and
aggressively marketing
films with novel plots. UTV recently partnered
with Walt Disney, Fox Searchlight, Sony and
Will Smith’s Overbrook
Entertainment, expanding
its reach globally. |
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Amit Khanna
Amit Khanna is the
chairman of Reliance
Entertainment, Director
of Reliance BIG TV & Reliance MediaWorks Ltd.
He started his film career
with Dev Anand’s banner
in 1971 and has written
lyrics for 400 film and
non-film songs. He was
the President of All India
Film Producers Council,
Film & Television Producers
Guild of India Ltd., for three
terms and Vice President of
The Association of Motion
Picture & TV Program
Producers for 17 years. |
| Amit Khanna has been
involved with all aspects of
media from theatre, radio, television, journalism, films
and new media. He was the
first Indian to serve on the International Emmy’s jury.
Besides serving on various
international, governmental
and trade organizations
and institutions he has won
several awards including
three National Ffilm Awards. |
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Simi Garewal
A highly respected and
popular actress, director,
writer, producer and television host, Simi
Garewal has seen great
success in many fields
across film and television.
Her first acting role was
in the English language
film ‘Tarzan Goes to India’ (1962). In the 1960s and
‘70s she acted for many
Indian and international
directors from Raj Kapoor
to Satyajit Ray to Conrad
Rook’s critically acclaimed
‘Siddhartha’. |
| In the early ‘80s Simi’s attention turned
to writing and direction,
forming her own production
company under which she
made documentaries and
television commercials, for which she won the 1st
Prize at the 1988 Paters
Awards in Australia. She
is most recently known
for anchoring the talk
show ‘Rendezvous with
Simi Garewal’ which was a
trend-setter in the genre. |
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Vikram Malhotra
A former marketing star,
Malhotra has successfully
created household names
out of new brands . Now he
heads two businesses; the
Digital and Motion Picture
divisions of Viacom 18
Media, the instant powerhouse
created by America’s
Viacom and India’s Network
18 in 2007. He’s guided
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
to near-instant major player
status by engaging with
an increasingly connected
“middle India” with fresh
ideas from exciting creative
talent. |
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Premier of Victoria
Minister of Innovation
Festival Director
FESTIVAL AMBASSADOR
the Lord Mayor
