Kamal Hassan responds to International Film Festival of India row

Chennai, Nov 17(ANI): Tamil superstar Kamal Hassan on Tuesday downplayed reports that he was miffed with the organizers of the forthcoming International Film Festival of India (IFFI) for omitting a retrospective of his films.

Hassan's retrospective will not form part of the 40th IFFI, which begins in Goa on November 23.

The IFFI will roll out a special segment 'Golden Jubilee in Indian Cinema', where yesteryear actors including Sharmila Tagore, Asha Parekh and Soumitro Chatterjee will be honoured with a screening of three films of each.

However, Hassan, who recently completed 50 years in the Indian cinema, apparently wanted to screen seven of his films.

"Somebody asked a question whether I insisted on seven. It's my friends and well-wishers in Delhi, to name Karthikey and he said three won't do, it has to be seven, we will do it in Delhi, that is how it became," Hassan said on the sidelines of a function where he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Rotary Club of Madras.

"That usually happens, the fault is also ours. We do not represent ourselves well, we do not go to meetings, we do not participate in various functions. It's a diverse culture and there should be unity," he added.

IFFI this year will feature 200 films from about 50 countries and will for the first time award the best director as well.

The 11-day-long festival, which will culminate on December 3, will highlight cinema from Latin America under its "Continent Focus" section while the "Country Focus" section will exhibit films from European nations. (ANI)