Chandigarh to host film festival

Chandigarh, Jan 23 (IANS) The 'Chak De! India' spirit will come alive during the second Chandigarh Film Festival to be held here Feb 1-4.

Movie buffs will have four venues to hop on and off to catch on with the screening of top grossing Bollywood films, quality children films and critically acclaimed international films.

Movies, which have been shot in and around this city, will have a special place in the event to be organised jointly by the Chandigarh administration and the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), a spokesman of the administration said Wednesday.

Bollywood will offer a mix bag of commercially successful and critically acclaimed movies. 'Chak De! India', 'Mr and Mrs Iyer', 'The Blue Umbrella', 'Dil Chahta Hai', 'Bhumika', 'Junoon', 'Zubeida', 'Garam Hawa', 'Corporate', 'Traffic Signal' and 'Page 3' have made it to the list.

The participating Indian film personalities would include directors Shyam Benegal, M.S. Sathyu, Madhur Bhandarkar, Pammi Somal and Anil Sharma, actors Hema Malini, Sohail Khan and Nausheed as well as Children's Film Society of India chairperson Nafisa Ali.

The selection of children's films includes 'Gilli Gilli Atta', 'Heda Hoda', 'Chutkan Ki Mahabharata' and 'Chakkad Bakkad Bumbi Bo'.

'Relatives', 'The Eighth Day of the Week' and 'Guarded Secrets' from Hunagry, 'Twilight' and 'Avinar' from Iran, 'By the Pricking of My Thumb' (France), 'What Is a Man Without a Moustache' (Croatia) and 'Other Side of the Bridge' (Austria) will vie for catching eyeballs during the festival which aspires to become an annual event with its second edition.