With a 40-million rupee makeover and a dash of Bollywood glamour, the Mumbai film festival kick-started here last evening.
The festival hopes to carve out a niche in a festival circuit dominated by Cannes and Berlin.
The festival, now in its 11th year, had been a low-key affair so far, with hardly any participation from the Bollywood film industry.
This year, the festival will have more than 200 films from 56 countries.
Indian filmmakers Karan Johar and Farhan Akhtar were part of the opening ceremony and a host of Bollywood stars lend a touch of glamour to the event.
"Many veteran and stalwarts of the film industry are participating and are being felicitated. The festival will make a name for itself in the coming times," said Karan Johar.
The annual event's budget has been boosted with 40 million rupees from Reliance Big Entertainment, a division of Reliance ADA Group.
"Corporate involvement is big in every sense. So hat's off to all of them. But it is a great collaboration of corporate and creative people," said Neil Nitin Mukhesh, Bollywood actor.
During the opening ceremony, veteran actor Shashi Kapoor and producer-director Yash Raj Chopra were felicitated.
The festival kick-started with American filmmaker Steven Soderbergh's "The Informant".
It ends on November 5 with Greek director Theo Angelopoulus's "The Dust of Time". (ANI)
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