Bollywood celebs lend glitzy air to Osian's Cinefan closing

New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) It was a star-studded finale to what has truly been a celebration of good cinema from Asia and the Arab world over the last ten days.

The ninth edition of the Osian's Cinefan festival of Asian and Arab cinema came to a close tonight with the screening of the Egyptian film 'Cut and Paste' by Hala Khalil, a gentle satire casting a grim look at problems facing Egyptian society.

The closing ceremony for the ten-day festival, which screened 140 films from over 35 countries, was a star-studded affair with a host of Bollywood celebrities, from Manoj Bajpai to Jimmy Shergill to Manisha Koirala to Divya Dutta to Gul Panag, Raima Sen, Sarika, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Seema Biswas, Usha Uthup, Rupa Ganguly to Arif Zakaria gracing the event. Pop diva Usha Uthup brought the house down with her brand of pop music which held hundreds of cinema lovers gathered at the Siri Fort in thrall.

The event also witnessed the presence of celebrities from the world of international cinema Ali Abou Shadi, President, Egyptian Film Centre, Chuck Boller, Executive Director, Hawaii International Film Festival, US, Ferid Boughedir, Festival Director, Carthage International Festival, Tunisia, Kim Dong Ho, Festival Director, Pusan International Film Festival, South Korea, Klaus Eder, Secretary-General, FIPRESCI and Director, Munich International Film Festival, Germany, Sri Lankan filmmaker Asoka Handagama, Egyptian filmmaker Hala Khalil, Iranian filmmaker Marziyeh Meshkiny, Dang Nhat Minh of Vietnam and Niki Karimi from Iran.

Speaking on the occasion, the director of 'Cut and Paste' Hala Khalil said he was honoured to have his film being chosen as the closing film at the festival. On his film 'Cut and Paste', Khalil said, ''it reflects the random and illogical planning experienced by the whole society.'' Speaking at the closing ceremony, festival founder and the editor of Cinemaya Aruna Vasudev expressed satisfaction at the response evoked for the films being screened at the festival.

''This year, we were joined by the PVR group in our endeavour to celebrate the diversity of Asian cinema.'' This year's edition of the Osian's Cinefan, which kicked off on july 20 with the World premiere of Japanese film 'Raami', an Iran-Azerbaijan co-production that deals with man's relation with nature, war and music, included screenings at the Siri Fort Auditoria complex, Alliance Francaise de Delhi, PVR Plaza and PVR Rivoli.

All the shows screened at both PVR Plaza and PVR Rivoli evoked an overwhelming response from the cinema lovers.

''The enthusiasm for the film screenings in fact, additional screenings of a few films like 'The Birds' had to be arranged on popular demand) at the venues shows that an increasing number of people are today appreciating good cinema,'' Chairman of the Osian's Connoisseurs of arts Neville Tuli said.

This year, the Osian's Cinefan focussed on Japan with a tribute to Kenji Mizoguchi. As part of its focus on Japan, the festival screened several contemporary Japanese and Samurai films.

The focus on Japan opened on July 21 with a benshi performance - the first of its kind in India - as a homage to Kenji Mizugachi.

This performance transported the audience to the golden age of cinema when silent films were accompanied by a narrator - the 'Benshi'.

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