VETERAN actor Shabana Azmi will be honoured with the Excellence in Cinema Award at the 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, recognising her exceptional career spanning 50 years, the organisers announced on Friday. The Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), which organises the film gala every year, will present the award to Azmi on October 18, a press release said. It will be followed by a masterclass on October 19 with National Award-winning actor Vidya Balan, offering insight into Azmi’s journey and experiences over five decades in the industry, a press release issued here said. Known for her remarkable contributions to both parallel and mainstream cinema, Azmi started her career with Shyam Benegal’s 1974 film ‘Ankur,’ followed by critically-acclaimed movies such as ‘Arth,’ ‘Swami,’ ‘Sparsh,’ ‘Mandi,’ ‘Masoom,’ ‘Ek Din Achanak,’ ‘Godmother,’ ‘Earth’ and ‘Fire.’ Festival Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur said it is a “privilege” to honour an iconic actor like Azmi.

 

The Hindi cinema star is also the founding member of MAMI. “Her remarkable versatility and extraordinary body of work over 50 years, beginning with her award-winning debut in ‘Ankur’ in 1974, has enriched the fabric of Indian cinema with some of the most memorable women characters. “MAMI had the distinct pleasure of honouring her in 1999 for her remarkable contributions over 25 years, and we are fortunate to continue witnessing her work and celebrate her golden jubilee,” Dungarpur said. The 2024 edition of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is set to take place between October 19 and October 24. The six-day gala, billed as a celebration of world cinema, community, creativity, and culture, will host a line-up of over 110 films in more than 50 languages, including features and non-features in all genres, from across the world to Mumbai.