Abhishek Bachchan, Kapil Dev to hoist Tricolour at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 

Actor Abhishek Bachchan and former Indian captain Kapil Dev will hoist the Indian tricolour at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) to mark the 75th Independence day. 

Abhishek, who will be there at IFFM as one of the key guests, says it is a huge honour for him to be invited to participate in the celebration of cinema. 

“It gives me great honour to be a part of the 75th year celebrations of Indian Independence in Melbourne. It’s a matter of pride for me to hoist the Indian National Flag in the iconic Federation Square. It’s an event where Indians from all across Australia, from all different backgrounds, will come together to celebrate India at 75.” 

He adds: This is a mark of the friendship between Australia and India. To share this platform with Kapil Sir is momentous for me and the event is also a mark of the coming together of cinema and cricket, two things that have often united us Indians together.” 

Abhishek is looking forward to celebrating India, Indians and the spirit of our country amongst hundreds of people who will be in attendance to celebrate this moment and event. 

IFFM festival director, Mitu Bhowmin Lange added: “India is completing 75 years of Independence and this event is a mark to celebrate this landmark moment. We are ecstatic to have Kapil Dev and Abhishek Bachchan jointly come together this year to do the honours of hoisting the Indian tricolour.” 

“It’s a mark of the friendship that our country celebrates with Australia and with these two icons coming together is the perfect amalgamation of cinema and cricket.” 

In the 13th edition of IFFM, films such as ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’, ‘Badhaai Do’, ‘Jai Bhim’, ’83’ and ‘Minnal Murali’ and many others have been nominated in the Best Film category. 

This year’s big nominees include the starring leads and filmmakers / producers of films like ‘Jai Bhim’, ‘The Rapist’, ‘Gangubai Kathiwadi’, ’83’, ‘Badhaai Do’, ‘Sardar Udham’, among others. 

Indie films nominations have acclaimed films including ‘Pedro’, ‘Once Upon a Time in Calcutta’, ‘Fair Folk’ amongst others, while ‘Urf’, ‘Ayena’, ‘Ladies Only’ are some of the Best Docu nominees. 

Winners of Best Film, Best Indie Film and Best Documentary each win state of the art cameras from Black Magic Design apart from the award. 

Another key highlight is that the Best Film winner automatically gets a nomination nod under the Best Asian Film category at the annual prestigious AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards). 

This year too those awards will be included with Best Series, Best Actor in a Series and Best Actress in a Series. In these categories, ‘Mumbai Diaries’, ‘Aranyak’, ‘Mai’ and ‘Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein’ are leading the nominations. 

Actors Gopal Hegde for ‘Pedro’, Rajkummar Rao for ‘Badhaai Do’, Ranveer Singh ’83’, Suriya, Tovino Thomas, Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek have been named in the Best Actor category. 

While in the Best Actor (Female) section, names like Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Bhumi Pedenkar, Kokona Sen Sharma, Lijomol Jose, Shefali Shah, Sreelekha Mitra and Vidya Balan are nominated. 

Pakistani film ‘Joyland’, ‘Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom’ from Bhutan, Bangladesh movies such ‘No Man’s Land’ and Rehana Maryam Noor; and Sri Lankan film ‘The Newspaper’ have made it to the Best Film From Subcontinent. 

The festival, which is presented by the Victorian Government, is an annual festival that takes place in Melbourne, Australia, and showcases the best of films from India and the subcontinent. This year the festival starts August 12-20. The Awards night is all set to take place on August 14.