Oliver Stone honoured at Mumbai Film Festival

MUMBAI,  (Reuters) – Academy Award winning director  Oliver Stone praised India and its flamboyant Bollywood industry  as he accepted a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Mumbai  Film Festival on Thursday.

“I came here many years ago to Calcutta as a young man to  learn about another way of thinking,” Stone said to a standing  ovation at one of the oldest movie theatres in the country’s  financial and entertainment capital.

“I returned many times and learned many things from you.

You  have a great culture and make great movies. I am honoured to  receive this award from you.”

The festival’s organisers called Stone the “quintessential  rebel child of Hollywood” who was unchanged by success.

“He has never hesitated to tackle any issue however touchy  it is. He definitely deserves all our respect,” Srinivasan  Narayanan, the festival director, told Reuters a few hours  before the ceremony. “He is one of the most prolific film makers we have today.”

Stone’s last film, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”, the  sequel to his 1987 classic, “Wall Street”, did modest business.

The director said earlier this week he had expected some  people would be disappointed.

“I think it might disappoint some people that it’s not the  old ‘Wall Street’ but I would never remake that film.
This is  the new Wall Street and it’s worse in many ways. It’s harder,”  he said.

Stone has won three Oscars in a career spanning three  decades, exploring themes like war, greed and politics.

The 64-year-old film maker, who says his main purpose for  the visit to India is to introduce local audiences to his 2004  epic “Alexander”, screened a re-cut version of the film, running  into four hours late on Wednesday.