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Indian cinema in the spotlight at the 21st Mumbai Film Festival

A strong selection of Indian films is one of the highlights of the 21st Mumbai Film Festival. The festival, which takes place from October 17 to 24, has announced its program on Thursday.

The Spotlight component of the festival has five world premieres, including Arati Kadav highly anticipated science fiction film "Cargo", the debut of actor Seema Bhargava Pahwa, the family drama "Ram Prasad Ki Tervi", Deepti Gupta document on a female artist's struggle for equality in modern India "Shut Up Sona", Kamal Swaroop's performance of the theatre production "Samudra Manthan", the staging of a mythological troupe by R."Oh, it's Bhanu" by V. Ramani. The component also includes "The Wayfarers" ("Raahgir") by Goutam Ghose, which has its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival.

The India Gold Competition at the Mumbai Festival features other titles by Busan, "Bitter Chestnut" by Gurvinder Singh and "Just Like That" by Kislay, as well as "Bombay Rose", favored by the hand-drawn animation festival by Gitanjali Rao, which has performed in Venice, Toronto, Busan and London, "Aamis" by Bhaskar Hazarika Tribeca and the Rotterdam title "That Cloud Never Left" by Yashaswini Raghunandan.

Director Fernando Meirelles, "City of God", will receive the International Award for Excellence in Cinema and will host a masterclass, while veteran indian actress Deepti Naval will receive the Indian equivalent of the award.

For the first time in its history, the festival will open with a film in Malayalam, titled "The Elder One" by Geethu Mohandas in Toronto.

The festival's international competition is also strong, with 13 new directors competing for a total prize of over $60,000 in cash. These include "Buoyancy" by Rodd Rathjen, "Land of Ashes" by Sofi Quiros Ubeda, "Song Without A Name" by Melina Leon and "Judy and Punch" by Mirrah Foulkes.

The duration of international popular titles remains robust and includes Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story", James Gray's "Ad Astra", Joanna Hogg's "The Souvenir", Ari Aster's "Midsommar" and Ken Loach's "Sorry We Missed You".

The festival is supported by the telecommunications company Reliance Jio of billionaire Mukesh Ambani and Disney's Star Network.