The world premiere of actress Priyanka Chopra’s debut Marathi production venture “Ventilator” was a dramatic one. From furious movie buffs shouting against the organisers to the audience walking out of the hall after experiencing numerous emotions in 130 minutes, Priyanka’s movie had a mixed reaction by the viewers.
The Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star hosted the world premiere of “Ventilator”, helmed by “Ferrari Ki Sawaari” fame director Rajesh Mapuskar, on Monday. The Marathi film, produced by Priyanka and her mother Madhu Chopra under their production banner Purple Pebble Pictures, has as many as 116 actors. Though not all of them attended its premiere, quite a few celebrities, including filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani, and their guests turned up whose seats had been reserved.
Priyanka Chopra’s still from Quantico 2 (Courtesy: Instagram)
And that, did not go down well with some of the viewers who were eagerly waiting to catch the film, starring Ashutosh Gowariker, Sukanya Kulkarni, Jitendra Joshi, Sulabha Arya and Boman Irani. As the premiere time approached, the moviegoers lined up to go inside the hall. Tired of waiting and watching the “invited guests” entering the hall, which is said to have 300 seats, they stepped aside and asked the guards to let them in. “This is a festival and not a place for private screening,” one shouted. On seeing the chances of catching the film bleak, some even left.
“It’s a world premiere. I can’t tell them to not invite their guests. But the audience doesn’t consist of just the invited guests, we do have a mixed audience,” Jio MAMI with Star Festival Director, Anupama Chopra told IANS. The tension-filled environment was just temporary. The moment Mapuskar, Madhu and Ashutosh took charge of the mic one by one, the fuming audience cooled down. “I am happy to see non-Marathi faces. I’ve been to fests… standing outside, yelling and trying to make a place inside the auditorium which is completely full, and there is always one uncle who will make noise. So, welcome uncle,” the director said referring to one man who had expressed his anger for not letting him enter the hall earlier.
(Courtesy: YouTube/Rajshri Marathi)
Priyanka, who is flying high in the West with the hit American TV series “Quantico”, couldn’t make it to the premiere, but her mother shared that the actress’ vision has always been to promote regional cinema and get them “access to the rest of the world”.
