The week long Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF) kicked off yesterday (10 December) at the Madinat Jumeirah.
Among the Bollywood brigade, Shah Rukh Khan will be honoured at the festival for his outstanding contribution to cinema, as part of the DIFF Salutes.
What’s more, among the five Bollywood films that will be screened at the festival, two of them are SRK starrers namely Main Hoon Na (2004) and Chalte Chalte (2003).
Main Hoon Na will be screened on 12 December and is directed by Farhan Khan. Apart from Shah Rukh Khan, the film also stars Naseeruddin Shah, Zayed Khan, Amrita Rao, Kabir Bedi and Suniel Shetty.
Chalte Chalte, which will be screened on 16 December, is directed by Aziz Mirza and stars Rani Mukherjee, Jas Arora and Lillette Dubey alongside SRK.
Among the other films from India, Yash Raj Films’ latest film Kabul Express, which is scheduled to release worldwide on 15 December, will be screened at the Dubai Film Festival on 13 December. The film stars John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Salman Shahid, Hanif Hum Ghum, Linda Arsenio and is directed and scripted by debutant Kabir Khan.
Mira Nair’s The Namesake, which is based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel of the same name, will be screened on 14 December. The film stars Kal Penn, Tabu, Irfan Khan, Jacinda Barrett and Zuleikha Robinsonmpa Lahiri.
Director Nagesh Kukunoor’s critically acclaimed film Dor will be screened on 12 December. The film, which is produced by Sahara One Motion Pictures, stars Ayesha Takia, Shreyas Talpade, Gul Panag, Pratiksha Lonkar and Girish Karnad.
Among regional Indian films, Bengali-English film The Bong Connection will be screened on 11 December. The film stars Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Shayan Munshi, Raima Sen and Pia Rai Chowdhury and is directed by Anjan Dutt.
Telugu film Vanaja, which stars Mamatha Bhukya, Urmila Dammannagari, Ramachandriah Marikanti, Krishnamma Gundimalla and Karan Singh and is directed by Rajnesh Domalpalli will also be screened at the festival.
Mani Ratnam’s Tamil film Iruvar (1997), which was Aishwarya Rai’s debut film will be screened. After the film’s world premiere at Toronto, it also participated in more than 20 other international festivals. Iruvar also stars Mohanlal, Prakash Raj, Gautami, Tabu and Nasser.
What’s more, if there are two Bollywood films starring King Khan being screened at the festival, there is another one from Pakistan with his name in the title — Shah Rukh Khan Ki Maut — which will be screened. The film has predominantly Urdu dialogues and is directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin.
Shah Rukh Khan Ki Maut revolves around an impoverished Pakistani boy (Tabraiz Shah), who works in a repair garage in Karachi. The boy is a diehard fan of the Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan and is also nicknamed after his idol. His motley band of colleagues cheer him on as they counter their own hemmed-in lives with good humour and resilience. One way or another, they too are star-struck (one is called James Bond). One day, ‘Shah Rukh’ is conned into getting a fancy haircut that he can ill afford. His only motivation is that he will then resemble his hero. The film explores the impact of Bollywood in Pakistan and touches upon the lives of the faceless underage millions who are part of its urban landscape.
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