Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan and yesteryear’s actress Sharmila Tagore will inaugurate the 17th Kolkata Film Festival (KFF) starting Nov 10, the organiser’s said.Veteran actress Supriya Devi will be the guest of honour at the inaugural.Bengali movie star Koel Mullick will be the thali girl for the opening, her father and KFF chairperson actor Ranjit Mullick said here. “The opening film will be ‘The Magican’ by Holland’s Joram Lursen,” he added.

There are many firsts attached to 17th KFF – for the first time, the eight-day fest, concluding Nov 17, would have a competitive section, a big dash of Bollywood glamour, screenings at a multiplex and inaugural event at the Netaji indoor stadium instead of the Nandan Film Complex, which has been the nerve Centre of the event since its inception in 1995.

It would also be the first time that former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the moving force behind the festival till last year, would not be a part of the gala after beign voted out of power in the state assembly polls. The fest will see screening of 150 movies, a heady mix of socio-communicational values and popular entertainment, from 50 countries.As many as 12 Asian films would vie for honours for the NETPAC Award in the newly introduced competitive section.

The notable films include Jean-luc Godard’s 2010 release “Film Socialisme”, Hungarian director Bela Tarr’s latest offering “The Turin Horse”, which is shot in black and white as per, famed Iranian movie maker Abbas Kiarostami’s “Certified copy”, and German mvoie “The Faust” by director Alexander Shokurov.There will be a retrospective of Japanese director Shohei Imamura, while Turkish movie maker Nurri Bilge Ceylan will be attending the festival with a package of his creations.

The Artistes’ Forum will hold a colourful program tracing the journey of Bengali cinema on the closing day. Bollywood filmmakers Anant Mahadevan, Ketan Mehta and Santosh Shivan are likely to attend the festival, the second oldest in India, being organized for the first time by the regime of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee.A centenary tribute has been planned for Bollywood great Ashok Kumar, whose birth centenary is being celebrated this year. His famous film “Kismet” will be shown.

Special tributes section features Bengal’s greatest matinee idol Uttam Kumar and noted director Mani Kaul. Altogether 11 auditoria including the Fame Multiplex in South Kolkata will screen the movies.“The festival has a budget of Rs 2.75 crore of which the state government is providing Rs.60 lakh. The major chunk comes from sponsorships,” said information and culture secretary Nandini Chakraborty.The Calcutta-Kolkata section will showcase select feature films spanning six decades giving a wider window to understand the city.In Celebrating 50 Years section, Ritwik Ghatak’s “Komal Gandhar” and Ajoy Kar’s “Saptapadi” – both released in 1961 – will be screened.