A star-studded opening to film festival

Kolkata: The inauguration of the 22nd Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) that saw a turnout of 20,000 people, including international dignitaries from focus country China, at the Netaji indoor stadium truly lived up to the chief minister’s vision of “cinema for all”.
From Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Kajol, Parineeti Chopra to Goutam Ghose, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Sandip Ray, Dev, Nusrat Jahan, Koel Mullick, Mimi Chakraborty, Jisshu Sengupta, Churni Ganguly,, Pt Tanmoy Bose and star telekids “Potol” and “Bhutu” — some of the biggest names assembled at KIFF.
Describing the Bachchans as the “permanent guide” and SRK as the best friend who charges no honorarium for being Bengal’s brand ambassador, Mamata Banerjee thanked her guests, reiterating that “Bengal is the cultural capital of the world”. Her paintings were gifted to the dignitaries before the screening of Sudeshna Roy and Abhijit Guha’s “Benche Thaakar Gaan”. “Conceived by industrialist Ghanshyam Sarda, my film is about old age. It’s a record that a Bengali film was chosen to inaugurate KIFF,” Roy said.
A book titled “Baritone” collating Bachchan’s KIFF speeches was also released. Bachchan analyzed the changing portrayal of female characters in films like ‘Achhyut Kanya’, ‘Lajja’, and ‘Pink’ among others. SRK’s first attempt to give a speech in Bangla drew cheers. A nostalgic Dutt spoke about his grandmother Jaddanbai who lived in Kolkata. “My mother Nargis was born here. My father also had a connection with Didi.” Kajol admitted that her KIFF experience has strengthened her belief that there are “two things revered in India — religion and cinema”. “I hope I do a film that’s good enough to make it to this festival,” said Chopra.