Bollywood goes to participate in ImagineAsia

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">mumbai: imagineasia, the biggest south asian film festival ever to be organised in britain, unspooled in london on thursday. the eight-month-long festival, organised by the british film institute as a nationwide celebration of south asian cinema, began with a gala screening of asif kapadia’s film, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">the warrior</span>, at the national film theatre in the british capital.the festival, which is expected to attract key south asian directors and filmstars, includes dozens of screenings, exhibitions and special events that will run until christmas. the festival will showcase the cinema of india, pakistan, bangladesh and sri lanka as well as the work of british-asian filmmakers. "with asian-influenced films doing so well at the uk box office, audiences are beginning to discover what asian film fans have been enjoying for years," bfi’s cary rajinder sawhney, coordinator of the festival told this paper. "from the dramatic spectacle of bollywood to the gritty realism of contemporary independent film, imagineasia will offer something for everyone, whether you are an ardent fan or a newcomer." a number of bollywood actors and film-makers were present at the opening gala of the festival and will participate in the talks and seminars that will accompany the screenings in the months to come. yash chopra was at the inauguration, along with shekar kapur. kapur and shah rukh khan are scheduled to share their experiences in bollywood with the audiences, while chopra and shyam benegal will have special books on them released during the fest. according to the bfi, the book on chopra by rachel dwyer, which has been in the making since the mid-1990s, will be released on april 29. it will provide an insight into the life and times of an important mainstream hindi film-maker. the little volume on benegal, on the other hand, will provide a look into the challenges, difficulties and triumphs of a top film-maker from india’s parallel cinema movement. "this new and rapidly intensifying global interest in indian cinema is very exciting for us here," said chopra. "it promises to open doors in the international film market to indian film-makers and that’s something all of us—young and old—are looking forward to." his hit film, <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">kabhi kabhie</span>, will shown on april 27 and his book will be released hosted by sa re ga ma on april 29. the books chopra and benegal are among the seven books being published and released by the bfi to coincide with imagineasia. the other books are on the pakistani singing star noorjehan and the indian classics, mother india and pather panchali, and on bollywood (entitled cinema of interruptions). the festival will also see the national film theatre presenting retrospectives of satyajit ray’s and benegal’s films. interviews with chopra and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">monsoon wedding</span> director mira nair will also hosted. the bfi will also re-release new subtitled prints of classics <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">mother india</span> and <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">mughal-e-azam</span> back onto the big screen and films by the critically acclaimed bengali director ritwik ghatak video. the mass appeal of bollywood will be explored in a new exhibition, ‘bollywood in love’, which features posters, behind-the-scenes photography, memorabilia and film clips. "the exhibition will tour london, bradford, birmingham and bristol, where there is a particular fondness for hindi films," revealed mr sawhney. </div> </div>