Shah Rukh Khan to grace 26th Kolkata film festival inauguration
The ongoing coronavirus health crisis has put a halt to almost everything, with top film festivals and various cultural activities facing the brunt of the pandemic. However, the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) has welcomed the new normal and decided to go ahead with the event virtually. The inauguration will be attended by superstar Shah Rukh Khan on January 8. Here is more.
Mamata Banerjee on KIFF going virtual: Show must go on
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced that SRK will grace the inauguration ceremony of the film festival. She also shared that the event will take place on a smaller scale this time. She wrote on Twitter, "Together we will overcome this pandemic. But the show must go on. We are going ahead with #KIFF 2021 virtually, on a smaller scale (sic)."
You can read Banerjee's tweet here
The film festival was delayed due to COVID-19
The 26th edition of the event was originally planned for November last year, but it had been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was scheduled to be held between November 5 and 12, 2020. However, it was then rescheduled to January this year. Founded in 1995, it is one of the oldest film festivals in India.
A brief about the star-studded film festival
Over the years, the film festival has become a star-studded event in Kolkata, with many popular celebrities attending it. Apart from SRK, megastar Amitabh Bachchan and former Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly have also attended the inaugural ceremony in the past.
Special tributes being paid this year at the festival
The event will commence by paying tribute to two great film personalities - Satyajit Ray, and the Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee, who died of post-coronavirus complications in November 2020. Ray's classic movie Apur Sansar, which was also Chatterjee's debut film, will be screened at the inauguration. Reportedly, special tributes will also be paid to late actors Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor, among others.
A total of 131 films to be screened this year
To note, the organizing committee of the film festival received a total of 1,170 entries from 45 countries, out of which 131 have been selected. The movies will be screened at select state-run theaters, including Nandan and Rabindra Sadan. Further, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha will deliver the annual Satyajit Ray Memorial Lecture this year on the topic, "Social Responsibility in mainstream Indian cinema."
What's up on the work front for SRK?
Meanwhile, SRK is currently working on his upcoming film Pathan, which also stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham. SRK reportedly has a Rajkumar Hirani film in the pipeline. He also has a cameo in Aamir Khan's next film Laal Singh Chaddha. Additionally, he will be seen in special appearances in R Madhavan's Rocketry: The Nambi Effect and Ayan Mukerji's ambitious superhero film Brahmastra.
