Bollywood veterans attend LIFF inauguration

Indian film veterans Govind Nihalani, Deepti Naval, Rajit Kapur, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Amole Gupte attended the inauguration ceremony of the third Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) held at Sindhu Sanskriti Centre here Friday.

The ceremony also saw the presence of officials of the South Korean Embassy who came

from Delhi, as well as Thuksey Rimpoche, regent of His Holiness Gyalwang Drukpa (head of Drukpa lineage).

The inaugural lamp was lit by a few Ladakhi students.

While Deepti paid a tribute to her late close friend and co-star Farooque Sheikh, Mehra praised LIFF as a "fest with a big heart however, small it is".

Mehra, who is a patron of the three-day gala, said: "The child is just born. It is just three years old and still learning how to walk."

The fest opened with the screening of Kamal Swaroop's National Award winning non-feature film "Rangbhoomi", a biopic on the life of the late Dadasaheb Phalke.

The movie left Deepti, Mehra and Amole moved.

The festival has Korea as the focus country this time and four Korean films will be screened during the course of the event.

Filmmaker Shyam Benegal, chairman, LIFF and veteran lyricist Gulzar couldn't make it to the fest.

Filmmakers Mani Ratnam and Anurag Kashyap are likely to join the festival.

Shilpa Shukla, whose film "The Coffin Maker", will be screened here, is also present.

As many as 67 films will be screened in three days.

There was low turnout from local Ladakhis as compared to the past edition of the festival. However, those present rejoiced the cold breezy winds with a scorching sun and hilly terrain as the backdrop, with snow-capped mountains peaking from behind.