Bollywood mega stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Mithun Chakraborty and Kamal Haasan came together on Sunday, November 10, with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF).
Big B, Jaya, Kamal Haasan, Mithun and SRK led the ceremonial lamp lighting and veterans from Bengali cinema, including actor and guest of honour Prosenjit Chatterjee, followed suit at the Netaji Indoor Stadium.
Distinguished guests, including filmmaker Sandip Ray, Bengali film actress Sabitri Chatterjee and Supriya Devi, Dipankar Dey and music director Dwijen Mukherjee, also participated in the lamp lighting ceremony that concluded with Big B releasing the brochure of the much awaited festival.
Seen in the star-studded audience were actors Konkona Sen Sharma, singer Usha Uthup, actor/filmmaker Aparna Sen and former Indian football captain PK Banerjee.
Actors from the regional film industry Dev and Koel Mallick felicitated Big B with an uttariya (scarf) and a metal-cast memento. The other luminaries were welcomed subsequently in a similar manner.
Gracing the occasion were noted Israeli filmmaker Amos Gitai, Turkish director Reha Erdem and other international delegates. As the 19th KIFF will highlight south-east Asian cinema, the majority of delegates were from the region.
The star-spangled evening was pepped up by Bengali stars June Maliah and Jisshu Sengupta’s energy infused emceeing.
Injecting a dose of nostalgia into the evening was creative dancer Sukalyann Bhattacharya with his entourage relaying the evolution of a century of Indian cinema through the 10-minute opening act Down Memory Lane.