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New Indian Express
a day ago
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
I helped save MAMI in 2014. Its 2025 death fills me with rage.
Picture a tiny, five-foot-something woman from Assam, battling gravity and loneliness in Mumbai, trudging religiously to the Mumbai Film Festival (affectionately called MAMI) every single year. Her dream? To become a filmmaker. With no other path visible, she endures endless queues and back-breaking theatre seats, absorbing the craft of masters whose visions flickered to life exactly as intended: on a big, forty-foot screen. Years later, her own film premieres on that screen. I was there, capturing her tears as they fell. That woman was Rima Das. That film, born in a remote corner of Northeast India that few outsiders had been to, was Village Rockstars, and it travelled the world. That is the power of MAMI – Mumbai's only global-scale film festival. I tell Rima's story because I witnessed it first-hand, having helped her become the filmmaker she deserved to be. But her story isn't unique. It echoes Nagraj Manjule's story. His debut, the brilliant Fandry, received its first public screening at MAMI. I saw the mist in his eyes too after a thunderous five-minute standing ovation – cut short only by the cruel clock. Even he confessed that MAMI wasn't just a festival for him: it was his film school. Chaitanya Tamhane (Court, The Disciple) and Anand Gandhi (Ship Of Theseus) walked similar dreams born on MAMI screens. Countless others, perhaps less heralded but no less devoted, kept returning. For them, MAMI was Varanasi, Jerusalem, Mecca, Kaaba – a shifting pilgrimage defined by whichever theatre hosted the magic that year. That's why, in 2014, when Shyam Benegal (then festival Chairman and whose office I was working in) and Director Srinivasan Narayanan told me the festival was shutting down – its sponsor vanished, funds zero – I snapped. I unleashed an angry rant on My editor, Sarita Ravindranath, wisely titled it: 'Mumbai's Rs Five Crore Shame: Who will fund a film festival' (The article is now lost behind a server with only a ghost in its original link). The rest, as the cliché screams, is history. Manish Mundra was the first to step in, with what became, along with Anand Mahindra, the most generous cheques of that year. Then came Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra. A lot of other filmmakers: I remember Hansal Mehta and Anurag Kashyap, who spread the word. And crucially, hundreds of Mumbaikars donated thousands, even lakhs. My friend Sanika Prabhu's mother donated one lakh rupees, despite knowing she wouldn't even be able to attend. In a rare, beautiful surge of collective will, they saved the institution that would later nurture the likes of Rima Das. Don't mistake this for nostalgia. Or vanity. My clickbait title aside, I claim no credit for "saving" MAMI. I was a messenger; the film fraternity's collective zeal was the saviour. No, I write this now because I am obscenely, incandescently angry. Why? Let me quote my own snarky beginning from that 2014 Sify piece, now scrubbed from the internet: 'It seems like the much-awaited yearly art bonanza, the 16-year-old Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI to most and MFF to some) will not see the light of the projector this year. The reason is as old as civilisation – lack of a few pennies. Ok, a lot of pennies. Obviously, the much-fabled large-heartedness of Mumbai, home to 26 billionaires (ranked 6th in the world) and 2,700 multi-millionaires, where 100 crore films have become a norm of sorts, has failed to find the pennies needed to make up 5 crores (less than 1 million USD) to run the festival.' What's changed in eleven years? Mumbai's billionaire count quadrupled (92 in 2024, surpassing Beijing!). It boasts nearly 60,000 millionaires. ₹100 crore films are passé; ₹1000 crore is the new fantasy, even if Bollywood rarely hits it. Back then, I spared no one: 'As for the Government of Maharashtra (which 'supported' MFF by giving a princely sum of Rs. 10 lakh every year) and Government of India (which believes it can serve one sixth of the world's population by financing a huge total of exactly one film festival every year), the less said the better.' I demanded: 'How do you value it? How do you value art? How do you value that which promotes art and culture? How do you judge its importance in the life of a city, nation and world?' I railed against the custodians of wealth: 'O you custodians of money with brand consciousness and PR skills, your sham CSRs and blind PR activities, your money rotting and stinking in Swiss banks, you who understand the price of everything but the value of nothing, you who equate everything to profit and loss who try to draw the map of the human heart over balance sheets… how can anyone show you what a film festival means to the life and breath of a metropolis you yourself reside in.' Do you see it? Change the dates, update the billionaire count, and this same article could run today. Nothing has fundamentally changed. Festival Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur calls the 2025 miss '..revamping the festival with a dynamic vision,' – a dishonest euphemism for bankruptcy. But is there hope? I remember Mr. Narayanan's grim warning in 2014: a hiatus is a death knell. Reputation shatters. If you couldn't raise funds this year, what hope is there later? So, this is farewell. And you know what? Good riddance. Not because the festival was bad (though, let's be honest, its management was often terrible – but at least we saw the films properly). I say good riddance because we, Mumbai, we, this nation, do not deserve it. We don't deserve the pregnant hush before a masterpiece. We don't deserve luminous visions exploding across forty-foot screens. We deserve the cheap, disposable dopamine hits of Instagram Reels we endlessly, mindlessly scroll – our sensitivity eroded, our empathy drowned in the algorithmic deluge of dead pixels. In 2014, thousands cared enough to fund it. Today? The people are still here, but their hearts have been calloused by the relentless, AI-curated numbness. Blame will fall on Mukesh Ambani. Whispers cite his displeasure with the last edition for withdrawing funding. Critics will note the cost of Rolexes gifted at his family wedding could fund MAMI for years. But I refuse that bitterness. Let's acknowledge the positive: he funded it generously for a decade. I've heard it's over ₹15 crores annually. That's significant. We should appreciate that. But the burning, desperate question remains: Where did all that money go? The festival's quality didn't soar under the new post-2014 management (who, let's note, abandoned ship the moment the funding stopped). If anything, it frayed. For years, I've watched young volunteers scurry out for cheap dhaba lunches near the theatres – gone were the days when even journalists like me were sometimes fed cheap, plastic-packed lunches at the festival. Mukesh Ambani gave over ₹150 crores in a decade. In the pre-2015 MAMI, this would have funded the festival for three decades. But it could only fund ten now? I have no answers. Only scalding questions. A furnace of anger. A choking desperation. And so, with a bitter symmetry that tastes like ashes, I end with the same words I wrote in 2014, believing it was truly over then:'The world won't come to an end if a film festival in a small corner of the world does not exist anymore. Yet, many things of value will die with it. Mumbai would die just a little bit more with the death of the Mumbai Film Festival. And so will something in the heart of each and every Mumbaikar. And all for the want of a few pennies we couldn't find in our pockets.' Back then, Mumbai did find those hundreds of millions of pennies. It saved MAMI till Mr. Ambani funded it for a decade. Can it rally again in 2025? Eleven years older, eleven years wearier, eleven years number? I no longer have hope. Only rage. And a profound, aching grief for the dreams of another Rima Das, another Nagraj Manjule, who will now never find their screen, their light, their tears captured for eternity.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Woman dies after jumping into river with son; search on for child
A 30-year-old woman died after jumping into a river along with her two-and-a-half-year-old son at Vayalpara in Kannur during the early hours of Sunday (July 20). The deceased has been identified as M.V. Rima, a resident of Vayalapra. According to reports, Rima arrived at the riverbank on a scooter around 1 a.m. and leapt into the river from a bridge with her child. The incident was witnessed by a group of local fishermen, who immediately alerted the police. A joint search operation involving residents and the Fire and Rescue Services personnel led to the recovery of Rima's body. However, the search for the missing child is still ongoing. The reason behind the incident remains unclear. The police have launched an investigation and are reviewing CCTV footage and speaking with family members to gather more information. 'Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State's health helpline 104, Sneha's suicide prevention helpline of Maithri - 0484-2540530, Thanal Suicide Prevention Centre - 0495-2760000 and Direction Interventions System for Health Awareness (DISH)- 1056.'
BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Suweida: Druze residents describe 'bloodbath' in Syrian city
Over the last five days, Rima says she has witnessed "barbaric" 45-year-old Druze woman has lived in the southern Syrian city of Suweida her whole life, and never thought her once-peaceful hometown would become the scene of a bloodbath."There were bodies everywhere outside our building," she told the BBC in a phone interview, using a pseudonym out of fear for her said she huddled inside her home, bracing for the unimaginable, as gunmen - government forces and foreign fighters - moved through her neighbourhood earlier this week, going door-to-door looking for their next victim."One of the worst feelings ever is to keep waiting for people to come into your house and decide whether we should live or die," she recalled, her voice still trembling with violence has left Rima and her neighbours feeling abandoned and afraid in their own homes, as bullets and shells sounded off tensions between Druze and Bedouin tribes in Suweida erupted into deadly sectarian clashes on Sunday, following the abduction of a Druze merchant on the highway to the capital, the fighting spread to other parts of the southern province, the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa - who led the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime by Islamist-led rebels in December - announced that it would deploy the interior and defence ministry's forces to "restore stability".Since the fall of Assad, some local Druze leaders have rejected the presence of the security forces in Suweida city. When government forces were deployed on Tuesday, the fighting the government's forces were being accused of attacking both Druze fighters and civilians, which prompted the Israeli military to intervene with a series of air strikes that it said were intended to protect the Rima watched this play out, the lack of internet and power made it difficult to keep up with the unfolding events. All she knew for sure was what she could see from her window: slaughtered bodies and burned state media have also cited authorities and Bedouin tribes as saying that "outlaw groups" carried out "massacres" and other crimes against Bedouin fighters and Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitoring group, has said it has documented the killing of at least 594 people since Sunday, including 154 Druze civilians, of whom 83 were summarily killed by government forces, and three members of Bedouin tribes who were summarily killed by Druze fighters. Nayef, a Druze man whose name we have also changed, was also confronted with horrific scenes in Suweida."We are collecting bodies from the streets. We found bodies left outside houses, next to houses for two or three days," he told the BBC in a phone being a government employee, Nayef lashed out in disbelief at what he saw as the government forces' brutality inside the city."They stormed neighbourhoods, selecting the houses that look wealthy. They looted these houses and then torched them. They sprayed unarmed civilians with bullets."Videos circulating on social media appeared to support Nayef's shared on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon shows at least half-a-dozen men dressed in camouflage firing live rounds at a group of residents, who are kneeling on the UN human rights office said it had documented the killing of at least 13 people on Tuesday by armed men affiliated with the government who deliberately opened fire at a family gathering. On the same day, they reportedly summarily executed six men near their bullets and shells rained down, Suweida residents were left wondering when help was coming. But it never said she watched as security forces and foreign fighters entered her neighbourhood and later shot her neighbour in front of his mother."Is this the army and security forces who were supposed to come and protect us?" she asked. "People's livelihoods were stolen. Those who were killed were young and unarmed."Other testimony we heard backed up Rima's claim. Those we spoke to said most of the fighters who entered Suweida and attacked civilians appeared to be woman heard the fighters shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in her building, calling the Druze "infidels" and "pigs", and saying they were there to kill of these fighters posted videos of themselves online humiliating men in Suweida, including cutting or shaving off the moustaches of Druze sheikhs. The moustaches are a symbol of Druze religious BBC has approached the Syrian government for official comments on the issue but not so far received a a televised address early on Thursday, Sharaa vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and promised to make protecting the Druze a "priority"."We are eager to hold accountable those who transgressed and abused our Druze people because they are under the protection and responsibility of the state," he said. He went on to blame "outlaw groups", saying their leaders "rejected dialogue for many months". For many, the promise of protection felt like déjà resembled the message the president delivered when government forces and allied Islamist fighters carried out deadly reprisals against civilians from another religious minority, the Alawites, in response to attacks by Assad loyalists in the coastal region in March.A committee was established to investigate those violations - but is yet to deliver any accounts from Nayef and others bore many similarities to what happened on the coast in March."There's a total lack of trust with the government," Nayef said. "They are just doing a lip-service. They say nice things about freedoms, documenting violations and accountability, but they are all lies."Many Suweida residents say this latest episode of sectarian violence will have long-lasting effects."If it was not for Israel's bombardment, we wouldn't be able to talk to you today," one woman told the some were also critical of Israel's airstrikes and its claim that it was acting to protect the said: "Nobody wants Israel. We are patriotic people. We were at the forefront of people to adopt patriotism. Our loyalty and patriotism should not be doubted."Additional reporting by Samantha Granville in Beirut
South Wales Guardian
12-06-2025
- Politics
- South Wales Guardian
Israel to deport six more activists detained on Gaza aid boat, rights group says
The six include Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament who Israel had previously barred from entering Israel and the Palestinian territories, citing her support for boycotts of the country. 🚨 Messages from Rima and other members of the Freedom Flotilla crew.#FreedomFlotilla #FreeMadleen — Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 11, 2025 Israel's Foreign Ministry, which has dismissed the aid boat as a publicity stunt, posted a photo of Ms Hassan on what appeared to be an aeroplane. 'Six more passengers from the 'selfie yacht,' including Rima Hassan, are on their way out of Israel,' the ministry wrote on X. 'Bye-bye — and don't forget to take a selfie before you leave.' They were among 12 passengers, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, aboard the Madleen, a boat that sought to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid. Israel seized the vessel early on Monday and deported Miss Thunberg and three others the following day. The last two activists are expected to be deported on Friday, according to Adalah, a local human rights group representing them. It said the activists were subjected to 'mistreatment, punitive measures, and aggressive treatment, and two volunteers were held for some period of time in solitary confinement'. Israeli authorities declined to comment on their treatment. Israel says it treats detainees in a lawful manner and investigates any allegations of abuse. Israel portrayed the voyage as a media spectacle, dubbing it the 'selfie yacht'. It says the blockade, which it has imposed in various forms along with Egypt since Hamas seized power in 2007, is needed to prevent the militant group from importing arms. Critics view it as a collective punishment of Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said those activists who signed deportation documents would be deported immediately, while those who refused would be brought before a judicial authority to authorise their deportation in keeping with Israeli law. The activists have protested that they had no intention of entering Israel and were brought there against their will. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the journey, said it was aimed at protesting Israel's blockade of Gaza and ongoing military campaign there, which experts say has pushed the territory to the brink of famine more than 20 months into the Israel-Hamas war.
North Wales Chronicle
12-06-2025
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Israel to deport six more activists detained on Gaza aid boat, rights group says
The six include Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament who Israel had previously barred from entering Israel and the Palestinian territories, citing her support for boycotts of the country. 🚨 Messages from Rima and other members of the Freedom Flotilla crew.#FreedomFlotilla #FreeMadleen — Rima Hassan (@RimaHas) June 11, 2025 Israel's Foreign Ministry, which has dismissed the aid boat as a publicity stunt, posted a photo of Ms Hassan on what appeared to be an aeroplane. 'Six more passengers from the 'selfie yacht,' including Rima Hassan, are on their way out of Israel,' the ministry wrote on X. 'Bye-bye — and don't forget to take a selfie before you leave.' They were among 12 passengers, including climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, aboard the Madleen, a boat that sought to break Israel's blockade of Gaza and deliver a symbolic amount of aid. Israel seized the vessel early on Monday and deported Miss Thunberg and three others the following day. The last two activists are expected to be deported on Friday, according to Adalah, a local human rights group representing them. It said the activists were subjected to 'mistreatment, punitive measures, and aggressive treatment, and two volunteers were held for some period of time in solitary confinement'. Israeli authorities declined to comment on their treatment. Israel says it treats detainees in a lawful manner and investigates any allegations of abuse. Israel portrayed the voyage as a media spectacle, dubbing it the 'selfie yacht'. It says the blockade, which it has imposed in various forms along with Egypt since Hamas seized power in 2007, is needed to prevent the militant group from importing arms. Critics view it as a collective punishment of Gaza's roughly 2 million Palestinians. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said those activists who signed deportation documents would be deported immediately, while those who refused would be brought before a judicial authority to authorise their deportation in keeping with Israeli law. The activists have protested that they had no intention of entering Israel and were brought there against their will. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which organised the journey, said it was aimed at protesting Israel's blockade of Gaza and ongoing military campaign there, which experts say has pushed the territory to the brink of famine more than 20 months into the Israel-Hamas war.
