Pune, September 2: The Federation of Film Societies of India (FFSI), founded by Satyajit Ray in 1959, has elected Kiran Shantaram as its All India President. A two-day event was held in Pune in the presence of many celebrities from the film industry. Shantaram was felicitated by Murlidhar Mohol, Member of Parliament from Pune and Minister of State for Cooperation and Civil Aviation. Senior Director The event was attended by Dr. Jabbar Patel, veteran actor, Mohan Agashe, film scholar, Samar Nakhate and others.
Speaking on this occasion, Murlidhar Mohol said, “Kiran ji’s election has put a mark of respect for Maharashtra and Marathi people. Marathi actors, directors and technicians have played a huge role in the film industry for years. I will make positive efforts to fulfill the many demands of the film society pending with the central government”.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jabbar Patel, Mohan Agashe and Samar Nakhate highlighted the importance of the film society movement and the need for audio-visual literacy.
Responding to the honour, Shantaram said, “We will try to take the film society movement to the youth, especially college students. Today, there are 330 film societies across the country, the number will soon be more than 500. It will be our endeavour to make this movement an effective medium of inculcating values in the younger generation”.
Shantaram has been active in the movement of the Federation of Film Societies of India for more than 35 years. Shantaram is the current chairperson of Asian Film Foundation and Prabhat Chitra Mandal, Mumbai. As the Chairman of Shantaram Foundation, he has been continuously supporting many initiatives in the film industry. He has been the Managing Director of Mumbai’s Plaza Cinema and the President of Mercedes-Benz Club. He has been a part of several national and international film festivals.