Star & Style
The 18th Calcutta International Film Festival was inaugurated on Saturday, November 10 by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She always looks happy in the presence of film stars and so you can imagine that she looked quite ecstatic as she sat on stage during the event flanked by Amitabh Bachchan on one side and Shah Rukh Khan on the other. Bachchan, commonly referred to as the Big B— for reasons which I have never fully understood (though undeniably he stands tall in stature both as an actor and in height…but Big B?)— was Chief Guest. He announced that he would speak in Bengali, to the thunderous applause of the audience at Netaji Indoor Stadium, the venue of the event. “Ami Bangla-e bolchhi (I am speaking in Bengali),” he began. And ended with, “Aar parchhi na. (Can’t do this anymore),” to even more thunderous applause from the audience. In between he reminded them that he was Bengal’s “jamai” (son-in-law), married as he is to Jaya Bhaduri, who is a Bengali. Shah Rukh, who is known as King Khan— no doubt for the same reasons that Bachchan is known as Big B— was present as the Brand Ambassador of Begnal and once again— remember when Mamata felicitated his Kolkata Knight Riders’ team for winning the IPL?— showered her with attention and affection, much to the CM’s delight. “She’s really, really cool,” Shah Rukh said fondly of Mamata. The festival, which has been organized by the Kolkata Chalachitra Utsav in association with the state government of West Bengal, will go on till the 17th and will showcase some of global cinema’s best.