Madhuri Dixit steps to hit songs; Goa International Film Festival in the limelight

20 November 2023, 09:51 PM IST

Panaji: The first day of the 54th International Film Festival is a star-studded affair. Actors Madhuri Dixit, Vijay Sethupathi, Pankaj Tripathi, Sunny Deol, Shriya Saran, Nushrat Bharucha, Sara Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, producer and director Karan Johar, music director Shantanu Moitra, singers Shreya Ghoshal and Sukhwinder Singh attended the inauguration of the fair.

The opening ceremony of the fair, which will be held from November 20 to 28, was held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium on Monday morning. Performances by Madhuri Dixit, Shahid Kapoor, Nusharat Bharucha and Shreya Ghoshal enthralled the audience. Madhuri Dixit’s performance of her own hit songs sent the stage into a frenzy.

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur and Union Minister of State for Information and Communications L. Murugan also inaugurated the fair by lighting the lamp. Satyajith Ray presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Hollywood actor and producer Michael Douglas. Actress Madhuri Dixit was honored with a special award for her contribution to Indian cinema.

The opening film was ‘Catching Dust’ from Britain. Indian Panorama will start on Tuesday. Director Shekhar Kapur is the Jury Chairman of the International Competition category. Fifteen films are screened in this category.

The festival will announce 75 winners of the Young Creative Minds of Tomorrow project to discover the next generation of film talent. More than 40 women directors’ films will be screened in different categories this time. For the first time, there is also an award for Best Web Series. There will be a special exhibition for the visually and hearing impaired. The closing film is the American film ‘The Featherweight’.

The best film in the competition category will be awarded the Golden Mayura and Rs. There are awards in various categories like Best Director/Director, Best Actress, Actor, Best Debut Director/Director.