Veteran
actor
Sharmila
Tagore
today
said
to
make
meaningful
films
it
is
essential
to
have
an
"enabling
environment" and
the
freedom
to
express.
Tagore
made
the
remarks
during
the
opening
ceremony
of
the
Jio
MAMI
19th
Mumbai
Film
Festival,
where
she
was
felicitated
with
the
'Excellence
in
Cinema
Award'
for
her
contribution
to
Indian
movies.
"I
want
to
highlight
this,
that
to
make
meaningful
cinema,
we
really
need
an
enabling
environment
and
freedom
to
express," Tagore
said
after
receiving
her
special
award.
Superstar
Aamir
Khan
and
co-chair
of
the
Jio
MAMI
Film
Festival
Nita
Ambani
gave
the
"An
Evening
in
Paris" star
the
special
honour.
The
actor
said
her
experience
of
working
in
Mumbaienriched
her
a
lot
and
made
her
realise
the
diverse
cultures
of
the
country.
"When
I
came
to
Bombay,
as
it
was
called
in
my
time,
it
was
filled
with
people
from
everywhere,
Kashmir
to
Kerala.
People
came
here
to
pursue
their
dreams
and
working
in
that
hybrid
context
really
enriched
me.
"It
also
made
me
understand
and
appreciate
the
diverse,
pluralistic
culture
of
our
country...
Beyond
our
cultural
differences
what
exists
is
a
commonality
that
far
exceeds
our
differences,"
she
said.
"When
a
film
is
released,
anywhere
in
the
country,
exactly
in
the
same
place
people
laugh,
cry,
get
bored,
what
is
that,
but
commonality..."
she
added.
Tagore
said
what
also
helped
her
immensely
was
working
in
two
film
industries
-Hindi
and
Bengali-
in
one
country.
"Every
time
I
worked
in
Calcutta
(Kolkata)
in
a
Bengali
film,
they
would
say
'this
is
not
a
Bombay
film,
can
you
please
pause,
think,
reflect
and
then
say
the
lines.' When
I
worked
here,
they
said
'this
is
not
a
Ray
film,
can
you
please
speed
up
a
bit?'"
The
opening
ceremony
of
the
film
festival
was
held
at
the
iconic
Liberty
Cinema,
here.
It
was
hosted
by
actors
Kunal
Kapoor
and
Aditi
Rao
Hyadri.
The
opening
film
of
the
festival
was
Anurag
Kashyap's
"Mukkabaaz".