PANAJI: Oscar award-winning director Ang Lee’s film “Life of Pi” will open the 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) which gets underway from Nov 20, festival official Shankar Mohan said Friday.

Mohan, a senior official of the ministry for information and broadcasting and in-charge of organising the festival, also said that Meera Nair’s film “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” will be the closing film of the festival.

The decision on the films was taken following a meeting of festival officials in Goa late Friday evening.

“Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’ will open the 43rd IFFI. The film has been adapted from Yann Martel’s book by a similar name,” Mohan said, adding that Nair’s film picked to close the festival, was also an adaptation of author Salman Rushdie’s book.

Mohan also said that over Rs.6 crore would be spent for the organisation of the IFFI this year and that this year’s edition of the festival would be dedicated to Indian cinema’s completion of 100 years in existence.

“We are dedicating a major segment of our film selection to the 100 years which Indian cinema has completed. It is a significant landmark for all film lovers,” Mohan said.

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