Standing ovation to `Bombay Talkies` at the Melbourne film fest

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne came to a spectacular close with 600 audience members giving a standing ovation to the closing night film – ‘Bombay Talkies’. "We could not have wished for a better closing night movie than ‘Bombay Talkies’, making its Australian debut only three days after receiving a gala screening in Cannes. The response to the screening has been beyond expectation,” said IFFM festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange. An anthology of four short films by four of India`s most promising directors - Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar – ‘Bombay Talkies’ was the icing on the cake for the festival`s own celebrations of 100 years of Indian cinema, and the packed audience lapped it up. "That was incredible. We saw aspects of India we rarely see, and could identify with every story," said one fan. "It was a real eye-opener about India, and Indian cinema. The gay kiss was refreshing to see too! And the film extremely confronting, especially coming from a mainstream film maker like Karan Johar,” said Leima Popal a avid Bollywood fan. Following a long standing ovation, Aussies could be heard singing the ‘Bombay Talkies’ song on their way out.