02 March,2010 05:30 PM IST | | Entertainment Team
Londoners will get a glimpse of Bollywood stars when the 12th London Asian Film Festival opens this Friday. Bollywood's biggest hits of the past few years will be screened at the 10-day long festival, organized by Tongues On Fire. Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Jaya Bachchan, Soha Ali Khan and Sharmila Tagore will attend the festival.
The festival will open with a BAFTA interview with Abhishek Bachchan, followed by an Opening Gala Dinner at which Jaya Bachchan will be presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Later in the festival, Abhishek will deliver an Actor's Masterclass, giving film practitioners and cinema lovers the opportunity to interact with their idol and learn what makes him and the characters he plays so successful. Shyam Benegal will teach a film direction workshop and take part in a BAFTA interview.
The films to be screened at the festival include Tarun Mansukhani's Dostana, Mani Ratnam's Guru and Shimit Amin's Chak De! India, Shyam Benegal's Well Done Abba, besides other South Asian and British Indian films. The Om Puri starrer Life Goes On, will have its premiere on closing night with actors Sharmila Tagore and Soha Ali Khan attending it. Festival patron, the writer, actress and comedian Meera Syal said, "I have been very proud to be associated with Tongues on Fire over the years, both as an excited viewer, and also as a participant, and am honoured to be the Patron of the Festival."
