Goa is all set to host the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium from Monday.
The nine-day cinematic extravaganza promises a captivating lineup with 13 world premieres, 18 international premieres, 62 Asia premieres, and 89 India premieres. The festival will be inaugurated by Anurag Singh Thakur, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting. It will open with the screening of the British film, ‘Catching Dust,’ narrating the tale of a wife seeking to break free from her criminal husband.
A total of 2,926 entries from 105 countries were received this year, tripling last year’s international submissions. Adding star power to the event, Hollywood luminary Michael Douglas, renowned for his roles in films like The Sentinel, The American President, and Disclosure, is set to receive the prestigious Satyajit Ray Excellence in Film Lifetime Award. Spanish filmmaker-writer Carlos Saura was bestowed with this honor during the 53rd edition of IFFI.
The festival’s opening ceremony promises to be a visual feast, featuring performances by acclaimed actors Madhuri Dixit, Shahid Kapoor, Shriya Saran, Nushrat Bharucha, Pankaj Tripathi, and composer-musician Shantanu Moitra. Singing sensations Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh will also take the stage. The star-studded guest list includes Hollywood’s Catherine Zeta-Jones and Bollywood luminaries such as Salman Khan, Vidya Balan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal, Siddharth Malhotra, Aditi Rao Hydari, and music maestros AR Rahman and Amit Trivedi.