Kamal Haasan is proud, Aamir Khan is concerned

The 11th Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) kick started today, 12^th December, at the Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall. Last year the inaugural function was graced by the Big B, Amitabh Bachchan and this year the occasion was made doubly special with the presence of Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan alongside Padmashri Dr. Kamal Haasan. The event also saw the likes of high profile guests such as the former Editor-In-Chief of The Hindu, N. Ram. Industry bigwigs such as Lakshmi, Suhasini Maniratnam, Y Gee Mahendran, Dharani, Balu Mahendra, Rohini, Sripriya were spotted at the venue.

The function had its share of song and dance too with performances by Karthik and Anil Srinivasan and a traditional dance display by Shobana and Swarnamalaya. The chief guests, Aamir Khan and Kamal Haasan handed the performers a gift as a gesture of their appreciation. Both the distinguished dignitaries were also invited to light the traditional lamp as a mark of commencing the festival.

In his speech Aamir Khan appreciated the efforts of such festivals to showcase quality films but also rued the fact that there wasn’t a dedicated platform for such non-commercial efforts. He said “I sometimes wish in India we had a chain of theatres which would throughout the year showcase films from different parts of the world. Even films from different parts of our country, films from different languages which we could all get to watch”.  He went on to suggest that the impact of these films shouldn’t be underestimated by saying, “There might not be large audience for these international films but I think there is significant audience and I hope with a chain like this even the audience will grow.”

During his address Kamal Haasan said that it was his duty and need, as a fan of cinema, to congratulate this effort put together by the organizers. He took  a moment to reminiscence the days when the city was screening a handpicked selection of world-class films at marriage halls and he beamed that the city of Chennai makes him proud for what it has acheived today in its upkeep and interest in quality cinema.

This 8 day film festival is expected to draw in an audience strength of nearly 8000 from across the country and the world. The city’s theatres such as Woodlands, Inox, Abhirami Mega Mall, Rani Seethai Hall and Casino will play host to 165 critically acclaimed films from nearly 58 countries.