It’s that time of the year again when film festivals around the world begin. Bollywood or the Hindi film industry which comprises of a huge percentage of the number of films produced around the world has always had a connection with these film festivals.
While some festivals screen some of our Hindi films in their international film festival, some invite our stars as ‘guests’ to grace their occasion.
Recently we had seen, Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Zero’ (2018) being screened at the Beijing Film Festival in China whereas soon after that, ‘Kaabil’ (2017) starring Hrithik Roshan and Yami Gautam had a release in China, two years after the initial worldwide release in 2017.
And to top it all, the Cannes International Film Festival which is probably the biggest film festival in the world too had an ‘Indian Pavilion’ where many Indian directors made their presence felt in the film festival.
Next, we have the 10th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Australia which has probably the most special ‘Chief Guest of Honour’ any Indian themed film festival could possibly have.
Shah Rukh Khan will be present at the inauguration of the 10th Indian Film Festival at Melbourne, Australia which starts on 8 August 2019 and goes on till 17 August 2019. Khan will specially be present to open the film festival officially. Confirming his presence for the festival while simultaneously giving us a mini throwback to the shooting days of his film, ‘Chak De! India’ (2007), Shah Rukh Khan said,
“I’m honoured and delighted to accept the invitation from the Victorian government and the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne to open their festival as their chief guest. An industry of our magnitude and diversity deserves to be celebrated with great passion and fervour, which is what the festival embodies. I’m particularly pleased with the theme of the festival this year which is courage, an emotion that resonates with storytellers who really have the might to change the society and the world. I have had great memories of shooting for ‘Chak De! India’ (2007) in Melbourne and look forward to being back again, this time to celebrate Indian cinema”.
On the work front, Shah Rukh Khan is yet to announce his next after ‘Zero’ (2018) officially although several reports strongly suggest that Madhur Bhandarkar’s next titled, ‘Inspector Ghalib’, a story based on the activities of the ‘sand’ mafia could well be his next project.
