Shabana Azmi will get this special award in MAMI, her golden jubilee in cinema will be celebrated

On Friday, the organizers of MAMI Mumbai Film Festival has made an announcement. Shabana Azmi, a veteran actress, will be honoured with the prestigious Excellence Cinema Award at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in recognition of her 50-year career. She will receive the prize on October 18 during the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image's annual film festival.

After that, on October 19, a masterclass led by National Award-winning actress Vidya Balan will be held to learn more about Shabana Azmi's diverse career in the film industry. Shabana Azmi, known for her contributions to both parallel and mainstream cinema, began her career with Shyam Benegal's 1974 film 'Ankur' and includes some of the best films such as 'Earth', 'Fire', and 'Godmother'.

It is a great privilege to be honoring such an iconic actress as Shabana Azmi, whose versatility and fine work-right from her award-winning debut in Ankur way back in 1974-has enriched the fabric of Indian cinema over the last 50 years with some of the most memorable female characters, said Festival Director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur.

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur elaborated, 'MAMI had the rare privilege of felicitating her in 1999 for her outstanding contribution over 25 years and we are fortunate to be able to continue celebrating her work and celebrate her golden jubilee'. The 2024 edition of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is set to begin on October 19 and go on till October 24. Promised as a festival of world cinema, community, creativity and culture, the six-day festival will screen more than 110 films in over 50 languages featuring feature and non-feature films across genres.