11th Mumbai Film Festival : The award function was graced by galaxy of stars : Mumbai, November 6th, 2009 : At the closing ceremony of the 11th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival, Road To Sangam got P7 Audience choice Award, presented by Mr. Jyoti Narain to Amit Rai writer and director of the movie. The movie got a prize worth Rs. 10, 00, 000. “P7 Audience Choice Awards” was introduced for the first time this year; to give the audience a taste of their choice, audience got to vote for their favourite movie. After more than two lakhs voting across three festival venues- Fun Cinema (Andheri), Metro Big Cinema (Church gate), Big Cinema (Ghatkopar) and online voting by viewers. The audiences were given a chance to put forth their preferences.
Speaking about the award Mr. Jyoti Narain, Director, P7 News Channel, said, “We are glad that people have responded so well to the audience choice award. It’s a pleasure to be associated with Mumbai film festival. We have always participated in events that support our vision of ‘Good News’. It is always good to get connected with the masses as our channel programming also revolves around the viewers”. We will be also presenting the audience choice award in the coming years as it is always good to align with viewers psychic.” Speaking on the occasion Amit Rai, Director of Road to Sangam, said “I am really happy that P7 News Channel has come up with this kind of award, as it helps us to showcase our work and really boosts our confidence to keep making good cinema that viewers appreciate”
Road to Sangam movie is about a God fearing, devout Muslim mechanic named Hashmat Ullah (Paresh Rawal) who has been entrusted the job of repairing 
an old V8 ford engine, not knowing the historic significance that it once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi which were immersed in the holy river ‘Sangam’. He is caught in a complex situation after a powerful bomb explosion rocks his town leading to the arrest of innocent Muslim youths of his locality. A strike to work is called by the prominent Leaders played by Om Puri and Pavan Mallhotra, of his community to protest against the unjust treatment meted out to those arrested youths by the police. Will he support the protest and abandon the repair of the engine or go against the wishes of his community. Thus begins his journey. A journey of Gandhian values and principles. A journey of patriotism. A journey called ‘Road To Sangam’.
The award function was graced by galaxy of stars Preity Zinta, Amitabh Bachchan, Yash Chopra, Prasoon Joshi, Shabana Azmi, Abbas-Mastan, Prem Chopra, Gulshan Grover, Kunal Khemu, Rituparna Sen Gupta, Archana puran Singh & Parmit Sethi, and many more that captivate the audiences. The director Kunal Kohli and actress Shefali Shah were the anchor of evening.
The jury and audience award were selected:
Lifetime Acheivement Award – Amitabh Bachchan
P7 Audience Choice Award: Road To Sangam
Young Critics Award: Whisper With The Wind
Best Actress: Paprika Steen for Applaus
Best Actor: Edward Hogg for White Lightnin’
Best Director: Adrien Biniez for Gigannte
Best Film: White Lightnin’
Jury Grand Prize: La Pivellina (The Little One)
In 7 days 200 films from 56 countries were screened. The 11th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) gets underway Mumbai the best of cinema from round the world. Organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) MFF has the distinction of being the only international film festival in India to be organized by an independent body of practicing film professional.
