Mamata to inaugurate Kolkata International Film Festival virtually

Kolkata:West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said that Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will be joining the virtual inauguration of the 26th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) on Friday.

Ms Banerjee said that this year's KIFF will be held on a smaller scale in a tweet."Together we will overcome this pandemic. But the show must go on. We are going ahead with #KIFF 2021 virtually, on a smaller scale," she said.

Glad that my brother @iamsrk will join us virtually at the inaugural event on Jan 8, 4pm. Watch Kolkata International Film Festival live," the chief minister added.

The Kolkata International Film Festival will be inaugurated virtually by chief minister from Nabanna state secretariat today.The seven-day festival will observe tributes to two icons of Bengal cinema -- Satyajit Ray on his birth centenary and Bengali actor Soumitra Chatterjee who died of post-Covid complications in November last year.

According to KIFF authorities, a total of 131 films -- in feature, short and documentary formats -- will be screened at the select state-run theatres of the city, including Nandan and Rabindra Sadan. 'Apur Sansar', Ray's classic and also Chatterjee's debut film, will be screened at the virtual inauguration.(UNI)