She was directing television shows in Bombay for major channels like Star Plus, Zee TV and Sony TV before she migrated to Australia in 2002.
15 years later, Mitu Bhowmick Lange is all set for the seventh edition of Indian Film Festival of Melbourne that she founded in 2010.
Bhowmick started her Bollywood stint as an in-line producer for Bollywood film Salaam Namaste, starring Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan in 2004 which was shot in Victoria.
In coming years, she went onto produce other big blockbusters Chak De India, Main aur Mrs Khanna, Bachna Ae Hasino and Love Aaj Kal which were shot in Australia.
It was in 2010, Mitu launched the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne showcasing the best of Indian cinema to Australian audiences.
Backed by Victorian government and Film Victoria, the festival, each year showcases the best of popular Bollywood movies to Indie movies, from documentaries to regional cinema along with events like short film competition, dance competition and flag hoisting as the festival coincides with the Indian Independence Day celebrations in Melbourne.
The festival has hosted some big names till date, ranging from superstar Amitabh Bachchan who came in 2014 to Vidya Balan, Sonam Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut, Imran Khan, Fawad Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan who is the special guest this year.
Amitabh Bachchan poses with Kangana Ranaut, Simi Garewal, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra during the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Source: Getty Images
“We took this giant selfie with Amitji and all the stars who were present there with the audience in the background at Princes theatre in Melbourne and that image will be etched in my memory forever,” Mitu says recalling those special moments of the festival.
The seventh edition of the festival will be launched with Lipstick Under My Burkha this year on the opening night on 10th August.
“The film was banned and later released with several cuts. The theme of this year’s festival is diversity and we will be opening our festival with the uncensored version of this film,” Mitu shares.
Besides Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the festival will be attended by Karan Johar, Rajkumar Rao, Rahul Bose, Konkana Sen Sharma, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Nitesh Tiwari, Shoojit Sircar and Shobu Yarlagadda among other celebrities.
The festival will run from 10th to 22nd August in Melbourne and from 18th to 20th August in Sydney.
Follow SBS Hindi's FACEBOOK page for live coverage of the Awards Night on 11th August from Melbourne.
