Veteran British actor Ian McKellen, best known for playing Gandalf in The Lord Of The Rings, is in India as part of his world tour with ‘BFI Presents Shakespeare on Film’.
Shakespeare On Film is a set of 18 British Shakespeare films presented by the British Film Institute and the British Council on the occasion of the Bard’s 400th death anniversary. The films in the collection include Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, and The Tempest.
The 76-year-old McKellen, on May 23, presented Shakespeare On Film in Mumbai, in collaboration with Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI) Film Club and the National Centre for Performing Arts, and discussed the Bard’s works with Bollywood actor Aamir Khan.
Sir @IanMcKellen and #AamirKhan at the inaugural @MumbaiFilmFest club, discussing Shakespeare. #ShakespeareLives pic.twitter.com/SMPxvpyElL
— ELLE India (@ELLEINDIA) May 23, 2016
He will unveil the film collection at the Jio MAMI Film Club on 24 May with a screening of Richard III, a 1995 Shakespeare classic set in 1930s’ England, directed by Richard Loncraine.
He will conclude his Mumbai tour by launching the seventh Kashish Mumbai International Queer Festival at Mumbai’s Liberty Cinema. McKellen is a leading activist for LGBT rights.
“All that @IanMcKellen said touched me deeply. He is so wet with emotion.” – @aamir_khan #JioMAMIFilmClubWithStar pic.twitter.com/Jzg82X17EI
— JioMAMIwithStar (@Mumbaifilmfest) May 23, 2016
“I felt incredible when @IanMcKellen was looking at me and talking” – @RajkummarRao #JioMAMIFilmClubWithStar pic.twitter.com/2RLGreOJNY
— JioMAMIwithStar (@Mumbaifilmfest) May 23, 2016
“I’d like to play Iago from Othello”: @aamir_khan “It’s the easiest part to play.” @IanMcKellen: #JioMAMIFilmClubWithStar #McKelleninIndia
— JioMAMIwithStar (@Mumbaifilmfest) May 23, 2016
