The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) kicked off its 52nd edition in Goa with star studded performances, including Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Shraddha Kapoor, Mouni Roy and Riteish Deshmukh-Genelia D’Souza.
Salman danced to Hud Hud Dabangg and other songs. His was the final act in the opening ceremony. Shraddha performed to a medley of songs including Kar Har Maidan Fateh and Badal Pe Paon Hain, while Riteish and Genelia promoted regional cinema and grooved to Marathi songs.
The official Instagram page of IFFI shared pictures of Ranveer, Mouni and the others’ performances as well.
Karan Johar and Maniesh Paul turned hosts for the opening ceremony of IFFI 2021. The function was also attended by politicians such as Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Thakur and Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant.
Anurag said that the government wants to make India a ‘hub of world cinema’ and the most sought-after place for filmmakers to shoot. After all, India is a land of storytellers, rich in resources. Today the world wants to hear the story of India, he said, adding, ‘The film and entertainment industry has a huge employment opportunity as we leapfrog into the digital era of content, filmmaking and not to forget, film archiving for the future generation.
Dharmendra reacts as Salman Khan mimics him, tells Ranveer Singh ‘main tera khoon pee jaunga’. Hema Malini was honoured with the Indian Personality of the Year award at the event. She told ANI, ‘It’s a fruit of my labour over the years. As an MP also, I do various works of Mathura. So that also creates an impact on the audience as earlier I was a dancer, film artist, and now an MP IFFI, which will run till November 28, will feature 148 films from about 73 countries in the International Section. The festival will have about 12 world premieres, about seven international premieres, 26 Asia premieres and about 64 India premieres.