AR Rahman pens a special track for MAMI

While Hrithik, Kangana will grace the opening ceremony, followed by an after party at Antilla.

The 17th edition of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival partnered by Mumbai Mirror will open with a light show on Thursday at the Gateway of India. The program features a visual spectacle reflected on the monument.

Two-time Academy Award winner AR Rahman has created a signature tune for the festival, that he will perform at the ceremony.

The star-studded night will be hosted by Kalki Koechlin and will have actors like Hrithik Roshan, Kangana Ranaut, Parineeti Chopra and Radhika Apte in attendance. Filmmakers Rajkumar Hirani, Anand Gandhi, Vishal Bharadwaj, Dibakar Banerjee, Juhi Chaturvedi, Neeraj Ghaywan will grace the event.

Writer-duo Salim-Javed, who have penned iconic films like Deewaar, Sholay and Zanjeer, will be felicitated with the 'Excellence in Cinema' award for their outstanding work.

"It was Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis who took active interest in the festival and also made the venue available. He will be in attendance at the opening ceremony," the spokesperson of the festival told Mirror.

A celebrity after party will follow the opening ceremony, which will be hosted at Antilla, home of Nita and Mukesh Ambani. Ava DuVernay, head of the International Jury, will attend the party, among other Bollywood celebrities.

A new addition to the festival, presented by Jio, this year is the Movie Mela, which will feature actors participating in panel discussions on October 31 at Mehboob Studio. "The discussion between young actors and experienced moderators will bring forth interesting opinions on the future of Bollywood in the next five years. With the industry seeing so many developments each year, the discussion appears to be a promising one. I am looking forward to it," says Parineeti, who will be one of the panelists.

For the festival, designer Masaba Gupta has created a special power bank for the jury that will leave them with a 'Bollywood masala' touch. "I think it's very important for Mumbai to have a festival of its own, since it is the heartbeat of Bollywood. I am looking forward to being a part of all the festivals to come," Masaba, whose design for MAMI, features Amitabh Bachchan as the angry young man of B-town, told Mirror.