Amitabh Bachchan while inaugurating the Indian Panorama section of the 50th edition of the 2019 International Film Festival of India revealed how coming to Goa is coming home. At the IFFI, a retrospective of his films was being screened as part of the festival’s programming, and at the inaugural ceremony, he said, “Coming to Goa has always been like coming home. My very first film was shot here. And ever since then, I’ve had many opportunities to work in this wonderful place.”
Amitabh who debuted in Bollywood with his film Saat Hindustani was filmed in Goa and he was seen playing the role of one of the seven “satyagrahis” who took over the colonial Portuguese regime to free Goa. The Amitabh Bachchan retrospective started off with his films like the 2009 Paa and the rest of the films scheduled to be screened as part of the package are Sholay, Deewar, Black, Piku and Badla.
He also further revealed how cinema is a universal medium that helps get people together, keeping aside the differences of their social and modern lives. Further talking about it he said, “I’ve always felt that cinema is a universal medium, one that is beyond language and beyond all kinds of other factors that keep coming into our social and modern lives.”
As part of the Indian panorama section at the IFFI, 26 feature films and non-feature films will be shown. The IFFI is a nine day-long festival and it also happens to be one of the largest international film festivals in Asia. There will be 200 films from 76 countries that will be screened for more than 7,000 contingent of delegates.