Rakeysh Mehra to grace closing ceremony of CIFF

Bollywood filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra will be present at the closing ceremony of the 11th Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) here Thursday. Malayalam superstar Mohanlal will also be present.

The eight-day extravaganza, which was inaugurated by Aamir Khan and Kamal Haasan on Dec 12, is playing 163 films from 58 countries.

"Rakeysh Mehra has agreed to grace us at the valedictory function of our fest. It will be our pleasure to have him with us. I'm sure his presence would attract a lot of eyeballs as Aamir's did during the opening ceremony of the fest," festival director E. Thangaraj told IANS.

CIFF has instituted a new award called Amitabh Bachchan Youth Icon Award as a tribute to Big B, who had graced the closing ceremony of the fest last year.

Southern composer Anirudh Ravichander, who will perform at the event, will receive the award for the first year.