ESG ignores Amitabh Bachchan
Thursday,
November
09,
2006
Kochi
(UNI):
Washing
its
hands
off
in
the
controversy
of
'ignoring'
superstar
Amitabh
Bachchan
at
the
International
Film
Festival
of
India
(IFFI)
again
this
year,
the
Entertainment
Society
of
Goa
(ESG),
an
autonomous
body
under
the
Goa
government
said,
the
invitations
for
the
opening
and
closing
functions
were
handled
by
the
Directorate
of
Film
Festivals
(DFF).
Addressing a press conference after launching the official website of IFFI, ESG General Manager Nikhil Desai said the invitations were handled by the DFF, which was under the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Mr Bachchan was not invited either for the inaugural or closing ceremonies last year, he added.
Stating that there were thousands of accomplished actors, Mr Desai asked ''why single out any particular actor''. Besides, IFFI was an open festival and any Indian citizen could attend it, he added.
Popular actors of yesteryears Shashi Kapoor would be the Chief Guest at the IFFI this year.
Prabhu Deva, Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ritesh Deshmukh, Javed Akhtar and several other film luminaries would take part in the 'Gala Star Night', which would be a part of the opening day festivities, Mr Desai said.
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