IANS

The 37th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), to be held in Goa from Nov 23, will pay tributes to two Bollywood legends - music composer Sachin Dev Burman and actor Prithvi Raj Kapoor.

In the homage section, the spotlight will be on actress Nadira, composer Naushad Ali, Tamil/Telegu actress Paluvayi Bhanumathi, Malayalam actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan and Kannada actor Rajkumar.

Bollywood actors Sohail Khan and Riya Sen Monday unveiled here the poster of the festival, which will be inaugurated by veteran actor Shashi Kapoor.

Apart from the formal announcement of the film festival and unveiling of the poster, its website www.iffigoa.org was also launched at a press meet here.

"I am very happy to see the press here because the festival is all about awareness. We are still in the shadow of festivals like Cannes and it is important for us to reach out to others," said Sohail.

Sohail confirmed that he will attend the 11-day festival. "I am going to be there, Riya is going to be there. I will get to meet very talented people from this country as well as international filmmakers. I will spend time with them and see their work. I believe it is going to be an educating experience for me," he said.

Goa chief secretary J.P. Singh said: "We really want the Goa fest to become an international event, we don't want it to be a Bollywood-centric film festival."

Acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar's comedy-drama "Volver", which won the awards for best screenplay and best actress at the Cannes Film Festival this year, will be the opening film. Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu's "Babel" starring Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt, which bagged the best director award at Cannes, has been selected as the closing film.

In the world cinema section, films from France, Spain, Brazil and Japan will be screened with special focus on Argentina.

Argentinean director Alberto Lecchi's "Estrella y Dos Cafes, Una" (A Star and Two Cups of Coffee), Bangladeshi filmmaker Abu Sayeed's "Nirontor" (Forever Flows), Brazilian filmmaker Luiz Alberto Pereira's "Tapete Vermelho" (Red Carpet) and Chinese director Hasi Chaolu's "The Old Barber" will also be screened at the event, among other offerings.

The India Panorama section will be opened with director Mridul Toolsidass and Vinay Subramanian's "Missed Call". It will showcase films like Sharda Ramanathan's "Sringaram", Blessy's "Thanmatra", Rituparno Ghosh's "Dosar" and Madhur Bhandarkar's "Corporate".

"A lot of music concerts are lined up this year. The primary one is dedicated to late R.D. Burman. We also have a Konkani concert, one by Sonu Nigam and a performance by the music band, Boney M," said Entertainment Society of Goa CEO Nadini Palliwal.

The festival will also witness 22 premieres, music launches and muhurat or inaugural shots of regional as well as Bollywood films.

Like last year, beach screenings and mobile cinemas will be an integral part of the fest.

The awards are divided into three categories - Golden Peacock, Silver Peacock and Special Jury Prizes.