Spiritual healer Omguru's another feat: Organises 16th edition of Ahmedabad International Film Festival

A galaxy of celebrities descended on Ahmedabad’s Tagore Hall on April 25 to celebrate the 16th edition of the Ahmedabad International Film Festival (AIFF), a vibrant showcase of cinematic excellence. This inspiring initiative by spiritual healer Omguru welcomed filmmakers, artists, and cinema lovers from across India and abroad. The festival culminated in a grand awards ceremony, following two days of screenings (April 23–24) reviewed by an eminent jury. Receiving over 3,600 entries, AIFF honored 260 films spanning a wide array of storytelling styles—short films, documentaries, animated features, music videos, Divyang films, school films, and full-length movies—in more than a dozen languages, including Gujarati, Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Russian, Spanish, French, and Arabic. Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to:Shri Yagnesh Pandya, a stalwart in India’s printing industry Prominent personalities present included AIFF Founder Omguru, along with actors Himansh Kohli (Yaariyan), Radhakrishnan Parthiban (Tamil cinema veteran), Sujoy Mukherjee (filmmaker and son of the late actor Joy Mukherjee), Rohit Roy (veteran TV and film actor), Rishi Saxena (Kahe Diya Pardes), Sharib Hashmi (The Family Man), and veteran Gujarati actress Bhavini Jani. A special Festival Award was conferred on Chandu Champion director Kabir Khan and actor Kartik Aaryan, accepted by Shri Petkar. Another Festival Award was bestowed upon Srikant—a 2024 biopic on visually impaired industrialist Shri Srikant Bolla—with director Tushar Hiranandani and actor Rajkummar Rao recognized for their work. In his address, Omguru, who has not let his 80% disability hinder his dreams or service to the arts, said: “Cinema, at its best, stirs the spirit and sparks ideas. AIFF is a space where storytellers and audiences connect—where tradition meets innovation, and emotion meets thought. We invite the global film fraternity to this vibrant celebration of stories and creativity.” A pioneer in Gujarat, AIFF provides a platform for both seasoned and emerging talents—filmmakers, musicians, animators, ad makers, editors, scriptwriters, and art directors—to present their work to an appreciative audience and expert panel. Omguru’s vision is to champion meaningful, socially conscious, and boundary-pushing cinema while nurturing fresh talent. Through AIFF, he hopes to contribute to India’s cultural resurgence and global artistic recognition. The Ahmedabad International Film Festival 2025 marks a major step forward in placing Gujarat on the global cultural map through the universal language of cinema.“I am so happy to be here, and I feel blessed to meet Omguru, who founded this wonderful platform of AIFF. This is unthinkable for a person who has undergone immense pain all his life. Seeing and meeting him left me stunned and inspired. I am immensely impressed with his knowledge. It was a heart-touching moment as Omguru recalled my father Joy Mukherjee’s evergreen song Lakhon Hain Nigahon Mein and the contribution of my entire family," said Sujoy Mukherjee, Filmmaker & Writer. “I have received more than 400 awards in India and abroad. But today, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the hands of Omguru feels truly special. It's commendable that despite being 80% handicapped, Omguru is doing such colossal and inspiring work. I can understand his pain and suffering since I have also endured the same. Omguru and I both strongly believe in our unlimited inner power, and that one should keep fighting with all strength against every adversity in life, " said Murlikant Petkar, Padma Shri, India’s first Paralympics Gold Winner. “Today, I feel blessed to meet Omguru. I am extremely grateful to him for recognizing my work. Meeting Omguru and seeing his colossal work has infused more energy into me and inspired me to work even harder to make our beautiful country India even greater," said — Mahesh Rathod, Secretary to Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar for 28 years (Lifetime Achievement Award), “I bow my head in respect to Omguru, the guiding light behind this unique event. He is a shining example of how one person can convert disability into opportunity—not for self, but for the betterment of society," said Muktaben Dagli, Padma Shri, Blind Social Worker (Lifetime Achievement Award). “I bow my head in deep respect to Omguru, who is no less than a phenomenon. Despite battling 80% physical disability, he founded AIFF to create a platform for young filmmakers. I am confident that under his guidance and blessings, AIFF will grow spectacularly in scale,"saidYagnesh Pandya, Director, Print Vision Pvt Ltd (Lifetime Achievement Award). “I am greatly honored to receive this award. My sincere gratitude to AIFF and Omguru for appreciating my work," said Himansh Kohli, Actor. “I express my deepest gratitude to AIFF and Omguru for appreciating my work. Seeing Omguru inspires me to do better and better and to keep returning to this platform. Thank you, Omguru,