Rahman to open International Film Festival

This year's International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will open in Goa with AR Rahman's concert.

To present Indian cinema's colour and vibrancy to a global audience, this year's International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will open in Goa with AR Rahman's concert.

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Rahman will perform songs from director Subhash Ghai's forthcoming release Kisna - The Warrior Poet, which stars Vivek Oberoi and danseuse Isha Sharvani in her maiden role.

Sharvani is set to charm audiences with a live rope dance performed at the Dinanath Mangeshkar Hall, the film festival's official venue. The opening ceremony will be telecast live on Doordarshan.

The festival's opening film is Mira Nair's Vanity Fair. Nair is expected to attend, although it is not known if any of her star cast will be there.

AP Parigi, co-ordinator of the project, who also hopes to organise free concerts on Goa's famed beaches during the festival week, said: "From the moment visitors arrive in Goa to the time they leave, they will have a lifetime's experience."

Ghai is thrilled that his film's music, to be released globally by Sony in December, is being presented to an international audience.

National award winners AR Rahman and Ismail Darbar have composed the film's music and Javed Akhtar has penned the songs.