Mumbai Film Fest to pay tribute to Yash Chopra, go on

Mumbai Film Festival director Srinivasan Narayanan said cancelling the fest’s ongoing 14th edition will be the greatest disrespect to late filmmaker Yash Chopra, but they will pay him tribute by a one minute silence before all screenings Monday.

“The best way to pay tribute to Yashji is to screen more number of films because he lived for making films and showing them. Cancelling the films will be the greatest disrespect we can show to him,” Narayanan said here.

Yash Chopra passed away here Sunday following multiple organ failure. He will be cremated at the Vile Parle crematorium on Monday.

“A minute of silence will be held before every screening as a mark of respect to the legend. He enjoyed making and screening films and to stop screening films is a discourtesy to him. He was the founder member of Mumbai Film Festival, the person who made MFF. We will pay homage to him by screening all the films without any glitch,” Narayanan added.

Asked if his sudden demise will affect the festival, he said: “I don’t think it will affect the festival tomorrow (Monday). Of course, the entire film industry would be there at his funeral. We have a lot of foreign guests and we cannot stop everything. It is a great loss but the festival should move on.”