The opening ceremony of Jio MAMI 21^st Mumbai Film Festival with Star was held at the Bal Gandharva Rangmandir.

Deepika Padukone took the stage for the very first time to deliver the keynote address as Festival Chairperson. Board of Trustees, MAMI, and Director, Reliance Jio and Reliance Retail Isha Ambani welcomed the audience while also announcing new initiatives.

The event saw the presence of celebrities like Soha Ali Khan, Kiran Rao, Vishal Bhardwaj, Rohan Sippy, Karan Johar, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anupama Chopra, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Taapsee Pannu, Kalki Koechlin, Nivin Pauly, Kabir Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Tillotama Shome, Genelia Deshmukh, Vinay Pathak, Vijay Verma, Geetu Mohandas and Nivin Pauly and others.

The evening also witnessed a strong presence by the international filmmaking industry with personalities such as Hany Abu-Assad, Franklin Leonard, Ari Aster, EfeCakerel, Julie Huntsinger, Mark Adams, Col Needham, Christian Jeune and Grainne Humphreys gracing the ceremony.

Indian actress, director, painter and photographer Deepti Naval was presented with the Excellence in Cinema Award by director Vishal Bhardwaj and Festival Chairperson Deepika Padukone for her exemplary contribution to the Indian film industry.

The festival will be showcasing over 190 films from 54 countries across 49 languages including features, documentaries and short films.