Big B at KIFF: Amitabh Bachchan reaches Kolkata, meets fans

After a hiatus of two years due to the pandemic, Amitabh Bachchan is back in Kolkata. The superstar will attend the inauguration of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival. Big B has been a regular guest at the festival. However, due to the pandemic, the festival calendar got messed up and as a result, he had to give the festival a miss for two years. Meanwhile, Jaya Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Mahesh Bhatt, Arijit Singh, and many others will be seen as the guests. 

Amitabh Bachchan reached Kolkata at around 11.30 am. As he walked out of the airport, he met a huge gathering from his fan club. He took photos and gave away autographs. Before leaving for the hotel, he waved at the photojournalists too. 

The festival this year will pay a special homage to Amitabh Bachchan. The festival will kickstart with his film Abhimaan as part of a tribute to director Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Exhibitions on Amitabh Bachchan – A Living Legend – will take place at two venues, Gaganendra Pradarshashala and Nazrul Tirtha, New Town. The exhibition will be inaugurated by Jaya Bachchan on December 16. Besides, seven of his films, including Deewar, Black, Kala Patthar, Shakti, Mili, Anand, and Abhimaan, will be screened at the festival. 

KIFF chair Raj Chakraborty is elated and hopeful regarding this edition of the festival. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, the filmmaker said, “Throughout the year, our entire team really work hard to make this a grand event. This year, we intend to retrieve our pre-pandemic grandeur. The team has really worked hard.”

On Saturday, the film festival team held a press conference at Sisir Mancha to elaborate on the programme this year. The 28th edition of the festival will take place after the irregularity of the 26th and 27th years due to the pandemic. In fact, the 27th Kolkata International Film Festival took place earlier this year in April after being postponed from January due to the spread of Omicron. This year, the inauguration event is slated to welcome Shah Rukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Mahesh Bhatt, and several other dignitaries from all over the world.