Red carpet for Ronnie Screwvala at Dubai Filmfest

New Delhi, Dec 18: Indian filmmaker Ronnie Screwvala walked the red carpet this weekend at the Dubai International film festival along with Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Internationally-renowned filmmaker Oliver Stone.

Ronnie Screwvala, who, as the CEO of the film production house UTV, has produced pathbreaking films like India's Oscar nominee 'Rang De Basanti' and the highly acclaimed 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', shared the stage with Richard Gere and Oliver Stone at a forum called "Operation Cultural Bridge-A World of Discovery" at the Madinet Theatre in Dubai on Friday night, held as part of the Dubai International film festival, sources in the UTV told UNI.

On the panel of the forum , which held discussions on issues such as 'cultural stereotypes in western film making', violence in the media and the responsibility of the artist in this case as also on dialogue amongst civilisations and reconciliation between enemies, were filmmaker Julia Bacha and Egyptian cinema personality Mohammad Khan.

The discussions at the forum, which grew out of DIFF's Operation Cultural Bridge programming segment, designed to present films that stimulate intercultural dialogue and reconciliation, which, thereby fosters cultural reconciliation, were moderated by Riz Khan of Al Jazeera International, the pioneering journalist who was the first to broadcast from the annual Haj in Mecca for CNN in 1998.

Speaking at the forum, which drew a houseful response from the local crowd, Ronnie Screvwala, the only Indian on the panel, focused on how the 'new age' of Indian cinema is responsible, aware and sensitive about the problems and concerns of the youth, UTV sources said.

In this regard, Mr Ronnie Screwvala cited the example of the Rakeysh Mehra-directed 'Rang De Basanti', India's official entry to the Oscars this year, a film that empowered the thinking of the youth.

Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone, speaking on the issue of 'cultural stereotypes in western film making', said American movies face a major problem, with directors feeling they cannot make a movie without a western protagonist.

The Ronnie Screvwala-led UTV has made a mark for itself in the recent years as the company has promoted and produced some of India's finest films that represent a range of genres as well as styles and directed by India's best creative talent.

The success and acclaim for 'Rang De Basanti' and, subsequently, 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' has reiterated UTV's position in defining New Age Hindi cinema. According to the authorities at the Dubai international film festival, the selection of Ronnie Screwvala to the panel was because as founder and CEO of UTV, his has been a strong contribution in making the company an undisputed leader in the Asia-wide media industry. 114 films, including acclaimed ventures like 'The Lives of Others', 'Volver', 'Hollywood land', 'Happy Feet' , 'The Last King of Scotland' and 'Babel', were screened at the festival, which came to an end last night.

Besides Ronnie Screwvala, the DIFF also saw presence of several celebrities from Indian film industry. Actors John Abraham and Arshad Warsi walked the red carpet with director Kabir Khan at the world premiere of 'Kabul Express' in Dubai, whose arrival at the DIFF comes close on the heels of its participation at the Toronto and Pusan film festivals.

Also present at the DIFF were Superstar Shah Rukh Khan and newcomer Kangana Ranaut (of 'Gangster' fame) who were there at the invitation of the Dubai Film Festival authorities along with model-turned actress Sushma Reddy.

The festival witnessed presence of celebrities from around the world including Laurence Fishburne, Joshua Jackson, Robin Tunney, Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Ahmed Helmi, Mohammed Khan, Mervat Amine, Leila Eloui and Prince Albert II of Monaco.

UNI