Big B and SRK to inaugurate Kolkata Film Festival

The eight-day festival will bring together the two superstars on the dais along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at a gala event at the Netaji Indoor Stadium. SRK is also the brand ambassador of the state.

Altogether 189 films from 60 countries will be screened at twelve venues including state-run Nandan, Sisir Mancha, Rabindra Sadan and at cinema halls like Star, Paradise, Navina and Mitra, festival organisers said on Friday.

A small tent-like structure would be erected at Nandan to create the ambience of the bioscope of yesteryears. Rare films like 'Raja Harischandra', regarded as India's first full-length feature film (1913) and 'Kaliya Mardan' (1919) made by Dadasaheb Phalke, the 'Father of Indian Cinema', will be screened.

Among other rare films to be screened would be Jyotiprasad Agarwala's 1933 film 'Joymati', Debaki Kumar Bose's 'Chandidas', Madhu Bose's 'Alibaba' and P C Barua's 'Mukti'. . Iranian film 'Nader and Simin: A Separation' directed by Azgarh Faradi will be the opening film.

At least 20 international and as many national delegates will be attending the second oldest film festival in India which has a budget of Rs three crore.

Film lovers will get to see some of the best African films made after 1960 with Africa being the focus country this year. The films include Charlie Vundla's 'How to Steel 2 Million', Cheick Oumar Sissoko's 1989 film 'Finzan' and Ousmane Sembene's 1966 film 'Ousmane Sembene'.

A centenary tribute would be paid to legendary Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni with the screening of eight of his documentaries and five feature films like 'The Adventure' and 'The Red Desert'.

Some of the most memorable films of Big B like 'Deewar', 'Abhiman', 'Saudagar', 'Cheeni Kum' and 'Black' will also be shown under a separate section. A tribute would also be paid to late superstar Rajesh Khanna.

In 'Contemporary World Cinema' section, films of 40 countries made in 2011 and 2012 would be shown.

To mark the 200 years of birth anniversary of renowned English author Charles Dickens, two films 'Pickwick Papers' and 'Nicholas Nickleby' based on his works, will be shown.

Under the 'Calcutta-Kolkata' segment which pays tribute to the city, films like Ritwik Ghatak's 'Bari Theke Paliye', Pinaki Mukherjee's 'Chowrangee' and Mrinal Sen's 'Ekdin Pratidin' will be screened.