Hindi
Mumbai fest to include Japanese film festival
MUMBAI: To pay tribute to eight decades of Japanese cinema with a special section in its eight-day programme, the 12th Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) has collaborated with the Japanese consulate in Mumbai and The Japan Foundation to organize a film festival that will show 44 films, both classic and contemporary.
The films cover eight decades of Japanese cinema from the early 1930s till date with a variety of genres and styles like traditional family drama, samurai epic and yakuza thriller amongst others.
Some of the other films to be screened at the fest are Akira Kurosawa‘s No Regrets For Our Youth and Ran, Masaki Kobayashi‘s three-part magnum opus The Human Condition, Mikio Naruse‘s When A Woman Ascends The Stairs and also works of acknowledged masters like Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi apart from recent films by Shuji Terayama and Takashi Miike.
The section will be inaugurated with the all-India premiere of veteran director Yoji Yamada‘s melodrama, About Her Brother (2010). Popular Japanese contemporary director Takashi Koizumi and several international film historians and scholars are expected to attend the festival.
Hindi
YRF Entertainment appoints Saugata Mukherjee as head of content
Former SonyLIV content head to steer films and series at streaming arm
MUMBAI: YRF Entertainment, the streaming arm of Yash Raj Films, has appointed Saugata Mukherjee as head of content, signalling a strong push to scale its original films and series slate.
Mukherjee joins the company following a successful three-and-a-half-year stint at SonyLIV, where he served as executive vice president and head of content. In his new role, he will report to CEO Akshaye Widhani and lead the creative direction and commissioning strategy for YRF Entertainment’s growing slate.
The appointment comes on the back of YRF Entertainment’s recent global success with titles such as The Romantics, The Railway Men and Mandala Murders, which have helped position the studio as a serious player in the streaming space.
At SonyLIV, Mukherjee played a key role in shaping the platform’s identity as a premium content destination. Under his leadership, the service delivered acclaimed originals across genres, building a reputation for storytelling depth and creative risk-taking. His exit was described as “one of the harder goodbyes”, reflecting both the impact of his tenure and the strength of the team he leaves behind.
Mukherjee brings with him a wide-ranging career that spans publishing, television and streaming. Before SonyLIV, he led content initiatives at HBO Max under Warner Bros. Discovery, where he was instrumental in shaping the platform’s India strategy. His earlier roles include senior leadership positions at Hotstar and Star TV, where he worked on building original content pipelines and collaborating with top creative talent.
With a career that began in publishing at firms like HarperCollins and Pan Macmillan, Mukherjee’s journey reflects a deep-rooted understanding of storytelling across formats and platforms.
His move to YRF Entertainment comes at a time when the battle for streaming audiences is intensifying, with studios doubling down on high-quality originals to stand out in a crowded market.
For YRF, the appointment is more than just a leadership hire. It is a clear signal that the studio is ready to scale its streaming ambitions, with Mukherjee expected to play a central role in shaping its next chapter.
