MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Scrapped for 2025, Hansal Mehta Slams Decision as “Cruel Irony”
Mumbai: The 2025 edition of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival has been officially cancelled, dealing a significant blow to India’s film community. The organisers announced the decision on Monday through a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter), revealing plans to overhaul the festival with a fresh team and renewed vision.
Veteran filmmaker Hansal Mehta voiced his frustration on Instagram, reposting the official statement issued by MAMI. It reads: “This is to inform you that the 2025 edition of MAMI Mumbai Film Festival will not take place as we are in the process of revamping the festival with a dynamic vision and a new team to ensure that the festival returns as a premier showcase for the best of independent, regional and classic cinema from Indian and around the world.”
The statement also confirmed efforts to relaunch the festival in 2026, saying: “We are working diligently to reschedule the festival and will announce the new dates for the 2026 edition as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding and support.”
Responding to the news, Hansal Mehta criticised the situation with a sharply worded caption, “It’s a cruel irony that Mumbai draped in the glitz of being India’s financial and cinematic capital cannot keep alive a film festival of its own. Abandoned by the self-appointed gatekeepers of cinema who chased shinier stages and safer bets it was left in the hands of a few passionate believers to run on pure faith. And now that fragile flame has been snuffed out.”
He added, “No ceremony. No outrage. Just a slow, silent forgetting. What should have been a cultural cornerstone has been reduced to a footnote – another casualty of apathy dressed as progress.”
Filmmaker Onir echoed Mehta’s sentiment, commenting, “Heartbreaking that the industry that produces the largest number of films … failed to nurture this space that celebrated cinema as a form of art … beyond box office and stars. What a loss for the city and a shame for us as an industry.”
The MAMI Mumbai Film Festival, founded in 1997 by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI), has long served as a vital hub for Indian and international cinema. It has seen support from prominent figures such as Aamir Khan and has been helmed by noted personalities like Priyanka Chopra and Kiran Rao.
Following Jio’s withdrawal as title sponsor last year, the 2024 edition was noticeably scaled down, now, the cancellation of the 2025 edition signals a deeper crisis for the future of the once-thriving festival.