Aamir has finally agreed to attend the festival after three years
Chennai:
Bollywood heartthrob Aamir Khan, who is set to attend the opening ceremony of the 11th Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) on Thursday, will bear his own expenses for the trip to the Tamil Nadu capital.
He is following in the footsteps of megastar Amitabh Bachchan who had attended the event last year at his own expense.
The eight-day festival is being organised by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation in association with the government of Tamil Nadu.
"Aamir Khan has agreed to grace the opening ceremony of our fest (CIFF). He said he will be there with his assistants on his own and that we only had to tell him when, where and to which hotel he should come," festival organiser, actress Suhasini Mani Ratnam, told IANS.
"I have been chasing Aamir for three years and he has finally given us the time. We are also touched by his gesture not to depend on us for bringing him down. Last year, even Amitji didn't expect our support and even donated Rs 11 lakh towards our festival," she added.
Award winning films from international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice will be screened at the CIFF this year.
Critically acclaimed Italian drama Great Beauty, French romantic-drama Young and the Beautiful and Japanese drama Like Father Like Son will be screened as a part of the festival.
The opening day of the festival will feature performances by actress-dancer Shobana, Swarnamalya, singer Karthik and Anil Srinivasan.
For the fourth year in a row, CIFF has included a special competition section to honour the best Tamil films. As many as 12 films such as Soodhu Kavvum, Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer, Haridas, Paradesi and Kumki among many more will vie for the prize money of Rs 6 lakh.
Malayalam actor Mohanlal will attend the closing ceremony of the festival which will witness the live performance of southern composer Anirudh Ravichander who will receive the special award constituted in Amitabh Bachchan's name and will be called Amitabh Bachchan Youth Icon Award.
He is following in the footsteps of megastar Amitabh Bachchan who had attended the event last year at his own expense.
The eight-day festival is being organised by the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation in association with the government of Tamil Nadu.
"Aamir Khan has agreed to grace the opening ceremony of our fest (CIFF). He said he will be there with his assistants on his own and that we only had to tell him when, where and to which hotel he should come," festival organiser, actress Suhasini Mani Ratnam, told IANS.
"I have been chasing Aamir for three years and he has finally given us the time. We are also touched by his gesture not to depend on us for bringing him down. Last year, even Amitji didn't expect our support and even donated Rs 11 lakh towards our festival," she added.
Award winning films from international film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin and Venice will be screened at the CIFF this year.
Critically acclaimed Italian drama Great Beauty, French romantic-drama Young and the Beautiful and Japanese drama Like Father Like Son will be screened as a part of the festival.
The opening day of the festival will feature performances by actress-dancer Shobana, Swarnamalya, singer Karthik and Anil Srinivasan.
For the fourth year in a row, CIFF has included a special competition section to honour the best Tamil films. As many as 12 films such as Soodhu Kavvum, Aadhalal Kadhal Seiveer, Haridas, Paradesi and Kumki among many more will vie for the prize money of Rs 6 lakh.
Malayalam actor Mohanlal will attend the closing ceremony of the festival which will witness the live performance of southern composer Anirudh Ravichander who will receive the special award constituted in Amitabh Bachchan's name and will be called Amitabh Bachchan Youth Icon Award.
