28th KIFF to host special exhibition on Amitabh Bhachchan – Times of India

The 28
^th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) will see Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan gracing the inauguration ceremony along with Jaya Bachchan on December 15. There’s another exciting news for fans. To mark Amitabh Bachchan’s 80
^th birthday, KIFF organizers have planned an exhibition on him and it will be inaugurated by Jaya Bachchan on December 16. A short film on the veteran Bollywood actor will also be screened at the exhibition. The Amitabh Bachchan exhibition will have his film posters, a giant portrait of the actor as well.

For the unversed, during 25
^th KIFF in 2019 Amitabh missed the inauguration event because of his health condition but he did send a video message which was shown at the closing ceremony. In 2021, the 26
^th edition was inaugurated virtually and the 27
^th KIFF which was held earlier in April this year didn’t see any outstation guests due to the pandemic.

There will be five competition segments in this year’s festival such as International Competition Innovation in Moving Images, Competition on Indian Languages, Asian Select (NETPAC Award), National Competition on Documentary and National Competition on Short Fiction, the statement from the West Bengal government had earlier announced. There will also be two non-competition categories- Cinema International and Bengali Panorama.

The 28th KIFF is happening almost eight months after the last edition which was organised between April 25 and May 1, earlier this year after a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This edition will also celebrate the centenary of Asit Sen, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, international directors Pier Paolo Pasolini and Alain Resnais. Preparations are also in full swing to get the rights for screening the masterpieces of the international directors.