Kolkata: Superstar Shah Rukh Khan who is the states brand ambassador of Bengal graced the opening ceremony of the 25th Kolkata International Festival on Friday.
The Kolkata International Film Festival 2019 is taking place at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. Many renowned personalities of the Bengali Film industry along with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee attended the grand event.
The star-studded event saw celebrities like Rakhee Gulzar, Mahesh Bhatt, Kumar Shahani, Sourav Ganguli, Srijit Mukerjee, Mimi Chakraborty, Nusrat Jahan, Soham Chakraborty, Raj Chakraborty, Parambrata Chatterjee, Jisshu Sengupta, Indrani Haldar among others.
Many international film personalities like Germany's Oscar-winning director Volker Schlondorff, Sex Lies and Videotape actor Andie MacDowell, Slovak filmmaker Dusan Hanak also marked their presence.
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Also in attendance was Madhabi Mukherjee - known internationally for portraying the title role in Satyajit Ray's Charulata, Shatabdi Roy and Deb Adhikary besides film directors Goutam Ghosh and Sandip Ray.
The festival was supposed to be inaugurated by megastar Amitabh Bachchan who unfortunately couldn't turn up at the event due to health issues.
In his absence, Shah Rukh inaugurated the festival. The superstar lit the ceremonial lamp to wild cheers from the audience.
Nusrat Jahan presented the 25th Kolkata International Film Festival commemoration trophy to SRK, as the audience fervently clapped.
SRK is a regular at the Kolkata film festival every year and shares a friendly relationship with the CM. The superstar also enjoys a huge fan base in Bengal.
A bouquet of 214 features and 152 shorts and documentaries from 76 nations are on offer during the eight-day gala.
Satyajit Ray's children's classic Goopy Gayen Bagha Bayen - celebrating its 50th year - would be the opening film.
