Indian Film Fest kicks off

Indian High Commissioner to Malawi Amararam Gujar on Saturday officially opened the first ever Indian Film Festival at Apollo Auditorium in Blantyre with a call for people in the country to embrace cinema culture.

Gujar said the Indian Film Festival is part of reviving the cinema culture describing Apollo Auditorium as historical as regards screening movies in the past years before its closure in the 1990s.

“Bollywood is one of the biggest as regards making movies. It makes 1500 to 2000 films per year. Films play a vital role in connecting people and cultures and so, we want to strengthen the partnership between Malawi and India,” Gujar said.

He said for a month, people will be treated to diverse movies and hailed Apollo Auditorium and partners for creating such a festival.

“I am impressed with the response and we are looking forward to making it an annual on our calendar,” he said.

Mayor of the City of Blantyre Isaac Jomo Osman said the commercial city needs to go back to its olden days when it used to be vibrant with entertainment 24 hours.

“We are also looking at re-launching the Night Market. Our friends outside the country operate 24 hours but we slumber which is laziness,” Osman said.

Riyaz Hassan, a family member of the proprietorship of Apollo said the venue has been silent for several decades but now they have got into the right partnership.

“We are bringing back the cinema culture but also storytelling and other artistic events, every weekend we will showcase movies,” Hassan said.

He said the cinema culture died out but they want to change it.

“This is a different vibe and experience and it is good for health. We want to connect a mixture of cultures and expose their talents and at the same time learn from each other,” Hassan said.

The festival which runs up to May 23 2026, opened barely a week after Apollo Auditorium, also launched the Malawi Film Fridays, which will be showcasing local films.

Organised through collaboration between Apollo Auditorium, Ministry of External Affairs and High Commission of India, the festival failed to pull a huge audience.

With a number of locals in attendance including filmmakers Shemu Joyah and Flora Suya, the red carpet opening featured Dangal, a film that revolves around the extraordinary life of Mahavir Singh, an ex-wrestler, who is forced to give up his dreams of winning gold for India but ends up training his daughters for the Commonwealth Games.