IFFI 2021: Hema Malini receives Indian Film Personality of the Year award

Veteran actor Hema Malini was honoured with the Indian Film Personality of the Year 2021 Award at the 52nd edition of the International Film Festival of India. The festival started in Goa on Saturday – it will be held from November 20 to November 28.

The opening ceremony took place at the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Indoor Stadium, Panaji, Goa. Lyricist Prasoon Joshi, the CBFC Chairman, will also be presented with the Indian Film Personality of the Year Award on the closing day of the festival. 

The opening ceremony of the film festival was also attended by filmmaker Karan Johar and actor Salman Khan.

A video shared by the Press Information Bureau on Twitter shows Karan, who is co-hosting, asking Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur to recall his favourite film dialogue. 

He makes a reference to Shah Rukh Khan's 2007 film Chak De! India and says: "I can't hear names of individual states, I can only hear the name of one country - India" The dialogue was originally spoken by Shah Rukh in the movie. The opening ceremony of IFFI is also being co-hosted by Maniesh Paul.

The film festival is being co-conducted by the Directorate of Film Festivals (under Ministry of Information and Broadcasting) and the Entertainment Society of Goa, Government of Goa. The festival will showcase over 300 films from across the world. IFFI will screen 148 films from about 73 countries in the International Section with about 12 world premieres, 7 international premieres, 26 Asia premieres and 64 India premieres.

Due to the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic, IFFI this year will be a hybrid festival and delegates will have the option to participate and watch films and other events virtually, with the comforts of their homes.