Amitabh to open Kolkata film festival

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan will inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) beginning 10 November 2013. The international event was flagged off in Kolkata in the presence of the Bachchan family, including Aishwarya Rai, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Friday. ‘I am very happy and delighted to share with you all that Amitabh Bachchan ji, a great legend, has accepted our invitation to inaugurate the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival to be held on 10 November 2013,’ Banerjee said on her official Facebook page.

‘I am also so pleased and obliged to learn that he is making efforts to bring along with him Jayaji, Abhishek and Aishwarya to this global event in Kolkata, for which we are eagerly waiting to welcome the ‘film family’, said Banerjee’s post.

‘Bachchan ji is a phenomenon. His iconic personality and his august presence in the Film Festival once again, will surely make the occasion spectacular and magnificent. We are all looking forward to this mega event,’ she added.

When asked about whether the state’s brand ambassador and actor Shahrukh Khan would also attend the carnival, highly-placed government sources said he is also expected.