18th International Children`s Film Festival of India (ICFFI) opening ceremony may feature Ranbir Kapoor, Gulzar

It has been reported that Bollywood’s emerging superstarRanbir Kapoorandveteranlyricist-filmmaker Gulzar are supposed to attendthe opening ceremony of the 18th International Children`s Film Festival of India (ICFFI). The film fest will be held in Hyderabad from November 14-20.

A senior Information and Broadcasting Ministry official said, "It was felt that the association of Ranbir Kapoor would help a great deal in promoting the festival as he is quite popular among the younger audience.” "On the other hand, the association of Gulzar is invaluable. Some of his important work has been quite popular with the children," the official added. As told by the official, Gulzar and Ranbir will attend the ceremony as special guestsatLalitha Kala Thoranam, Public Garden in Hyderabad. The ministry has also planned extensively about the promotion of the festival through social media platforms like Youtube, Twitter and Facebook.

According to the official, "The I&B is keen to ensure that the festival is extensively on all the social media platforms which include Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and the official blog. A separate ICFFI playlist will be created on Youtube, which will be integrated with all other platforms.” The festival will screen 200 high quality films from 48 countries which have been selected out of 894 nominations and the screenings will take place across 10 screens in Hyderabad. 30 shows will be held every day and around 1, 50,000 children are expected to be participating at the festival. The official said that special arrangements have been made for specially-abled children in one of the theatres. The opening and closing ceremonies will be a blending of cultural programmes along with movie screenings. The opening ceremony will screen Gopi Gawaiyya Bagha Baiyaya, a production of Children`s Film Society of India (CFSI). The 18th ICFFI is a collaboration between CFSI, the Andhra Pradesh Government and the I&B ministry.