Bollywood to participate actively in MIFF'08

Mumbai, Feb 2 (UNI) Though the Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) is solely related to documentary, short and animation films, this year the event will witness active participation of stalwarts of the Hindi film industry.

''For the first time Bollywood is participating in the Festival in a big way,'' Chief Producer of Film Division and MIFF 2008 Festival Director Kuldeep Sinha said.

He said that prominent personalities from the Hindi film industry will be inaugurating the special packages of films that will be screened under different categories.

Noted director, producer and writer Basu Chatterjee will inaugurate the ''Homage'' section, which will screen memorable movies of filmmakers like K Vishwanath, Girish Vaidya and noted cinematographer K K Mahajan, Mr Sinha informed.

He added that renowned director Jahnu Barua and Jabbar Patel will be present at the inauguration of ''Glipmses of Films Division'', which will showcase selected movies made by the directors of Film Division on the entire spectrum of development in India since 1948.

Special package of ''International Students Films'' from Whistling Woods will be inaugurated by the showman of Bollywood Subhash Ghai.

This package will screen the films shown at Pune International Film Festival 2008 as part of the International Students Film Competition.

Films from SAARC countries will be inaugurated by director and producer Mahesh Bhatt while the special package on the legends of cinema called the ''Film Memoirs'' will be inaugurated by Yash Chopra, Mr Sinha added.

Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Lt Gen (Retd) S K Sinha will inaugurate the ''Retrospective'' on February four, where special films on the Second World War will be showcased.

While the inauguration of the ''Homage'', ''Glimpses of Film Division'' and the student's films from Whistling Woods will be on February four, films from SAARC countries and ''Film Memoirs'' will be inaugurated on February five, a release said.

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