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Goa : Ending the long wait, the opening ceremony of one of the most prestigious film festivals across the world, the 49th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), opened amidst the presence of film stars, filmmakers and cine-lovers from across at Panjim, Goa.
The opening ceremony of IFFI 2018 was anchored by Mandira Bedi and Amit Sadh and saw the presence of eminent Indian and international film personalities such as Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar, Randhir Kapoor, Prasoon Joshi, Julien Landais, Barbara Meier, Nicolas Hau, Lois Robbins, Siddharth Roy Kapoor, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Robert Glinski, Tom Fitzpatrick, Poonam Dhillon, Hrishita Bhatt, Madhur Bhandarkar, Subhash Ghai, Arijit Singh, Ramesh Sippy, Chin Han among many others. Apart from this, a host of celebrities walked the red carpet adding a sprinkle of glitz to the ceremony.
The inaugural ceremony of the festival saw dignitaries such as Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting (IC) Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Governor of Goa Mridula Sinha, Secretary Information & Broadcasting, Amit Khare, IFFI Festival Director Chaitanya Prasad, Chairman Jury Robert Glinski, PWD Minister of Transport & River Navigation of Goa Ramakrishna alias Sudin Dhavalikar, Chief Secretary of Goa Dharmendra Sharma, and Chairman ESG Rajendra Talak who lit the lamp thereby declaring IFFI 2018 open.
Col Rathore said that “India is a land of storytellers where every person has a story to tell. These stories inspire and entertain us. IFFI is a platform for our young generation to showcase their talent. It is a platform for the international filmmakers to see India and explore the talent that we have. It is a great collaboration for both the sides. It is a lovely time to come to Goa since this year we are having street cinema open to the tourists who are visiting the state for the next 9 days and they can experience this at IFFI.”
Film star Akshay Kumar, who flew down in a charter plane to grace the occasion for a few hours, said, “There are so many things happening in India in the entertainment industry. Our Minister Mr Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore is doing an incredible job of combining entertainment and education. It is very important to have films which have substance and meaning behind it. I am very thankful to the government that because of such films and initiatives there are lakhs of villages who get information free of cost and trigger massive positive changes.”
The inaugural ceremony also witnessed some mesmerizing audio visual performances which started with a medley dance performance of songs from some of the best Indian films depicting the country’s vibrant history. Singer Shilpa Rao sang popular songs from across the country in multiple languages such as Bengali, Punjabi, Hindi and a beautiful rendition of the timeless, “Aaj Jaane Ki Zidd Na Karo.” Actor Sonu Sood then took over and set the stage on fire with his dance skills.
The most interesting part of the IFFI 2018 opening ceremony was an informal chat between the three luminaries on stage – Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, actor Akshay Kumar and filmmaker Karan Johar. Karan Johar engaged Col Rathore and Akshay Kumar in an informal chat on sports and cinema and their journey through their careers.
Akshay Kumar spoke about his performance as the manager of the Indian Hockey Team in the recently released Gold, a film based on India’s historic gold medal win at the 1948 Summer Olympics. Gold is one of the sports based films also screening at IFFI this year as a part of the Sports Biopics section, according to a PIB release.
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