The first edition of the three-day Kashi Indian International Film Festival commenced in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi on Monday (December 27). State Tourism and Culture Affairs minister Neelkanth Tiwari inaugurated the festival at a grand event, in presence of Bollywood celebrities like actor Anupam Kher, filmmaker Rahul Mittra, President of Indian Film and Television Directors Association Ashoke Pandit, directors Satish Kaushik and Madhur Bhandarkar, MP and actor Ravi Kishan, comedian Raju Srivastava, Vinod Bachchan, among others.
While Anupam and Ashoke will participate in a panel discussion on Varanasi's rich cultural heritage, Rahul, an award-winning filmmaker, will speak on the importance of Uttar Pradesh as a centre for film production, and the potential for regional cinema on the second day of the event.
This would be followed by performances of singer Kailash Kher and Hema Malini among others. The Kashi Film Festival is taking place ahead of the beginning of the construction work on the ambitious film City at Sector-21 of the Yamuna Expressway Development Authority (YEIDA) area of Gautam Budh Nagar district in January 2022.
(ANI)
