49th Edition of IFFI to Open Tomorrow with the Gala Opening Ceremony

The 49th edition of the International Film Festival of India will open tomorrow with the gala opening ceremony that will showcase the theme of New India through a variety of genres of cinema. This would entail a 90-minute power-packed programme incorporating elements and narratives of the rich and diverse kaleidoscope of the Indian film heritage and industry.

The colourful opening ceremony will showcase the themes of history, action and romance. Audiences will get to watch an array of on-stage scintillating performances by mainstream Bollywood artists - with Sonu Sood doing an action packed set, Shilpa Rao doing a romantic bit and dancers opening the ceremony with a mesmerising act.

The ceremony will be graced by Governor of Goa, Smt. Mridula Sinha; Union Minister of State for Information & Broadcasting, Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore; PWD Minister Shri Sudin Madhav Dhavalikar; and Chairperson, Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, Shri Prasoon Joshi.

Apart from this, a host of celebrities will walk the red carpet, giving added colour to the ceremony. Amongst the big personalities, we will have Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar, Julien Landais, Hrisa Bhatt, Madhur Bhandarkar, Subhash Ghai, Arijit Singh, Ramesh Sippy and Chin Han.

The ceremony is being held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Goa, from 4.30 pm onwards. The opening ceremony will go live on DD National at 4.30pm, and will also be streamed LIVE on the Youtube channel of PIB youtube.com/pibindia

The show will witness the launch of the Film Facilitation Office, an initiative by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

Glimpses of the festival opening film "The Aspern Papers", which tells a story of obsession, grandeur lost and dreams of Byronic adventureswill be screened for the audience and the Director of the Film, Julien Landaiswill address the audience on the occasion.

Chairman, International CompetitionJury and Polish Director Robert Glinski will also share his thoughts. Other jury members, namely Adrian Sitaru, Anna Ferraioli Ravel, Tom Fitz Patrick and Indian member Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra will also be present.

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