The 31st Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) was inaugurated at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium by veteran actor Shatrughan Sinha in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and host of other stars, including former cricketer Sourav Ganguly, singer Arati Mukherjee, filmmakers Goutam Ghose, Mumbai-based Ramesh Sippy and Sujoy Ghosh.
The high point of a star-studded inauguration was the conferring of BangaBibhushan to the noted playback singer Arati Mukherjee and veteran silver screen star and MP Satrughan Sinha, who is also popularly known as Shot gun Sinha or Bihari Babu, for their outstanding contribution to playback singing and acting respectively.
Earlier, former India skipper Sourav Ganguly, while addressing the gathering, lauded the efforts of the chief minister to make the Kolkata Film Festival of international repute and to make the platform of the film festival as a level playing field for both the actors and producers.
The evening turned a bit emotional as soon as the chief minister announced the name of the singer Arati Mukherjee for the prestigious BangaBibhushan award.
The singer burst into tears and hugged the chief minister in joy as soon as her name was announced.
Miss Banerjee said in a statement: “Arati di has given us everything but we could not give her back anything. She gave us delight through her voice but we never gave her anything she deserved. You may have received many awards but we shall be thankful to you for accepting this award at our behest.”
The Uttam Kumar and Suchita Sen-starrer Saptapadi is the inaugural film this year.