Bollywood Festival Norway: Rahul Mittra, Saurabh Shukla, Sham Kaushal to open 3-day event

As part of its 20 years of celebrations, this year's Bollywood Festival Norway, is organising a concert to pay homage to singer Lata Mangeshkar on Sunday, Sept 11, 2022.

Filmmaker and actor Rahul Mittra, veteran action director Sham Kaushal, popular actor-director Saurabh Shukla, other representatives of top Indian film production houses, Iranian actress Helia Emami, will open this year's Bollywood Festival Norway.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister Annikken Huitfelt and Mayor of Oslo city Ragnhild Bergheim will inaugurate the festival on September 9 in Oslo. The three-day festival will see participation of film peronalities from countries including India, Iran, Bangladesh and Scandinavia.

To be held in three places in Norway, this year's opening ceremony is being held at Lorenskog hus Cinema, along with a workshop on cinema jointly conducted by Rahul Mittra, Sham Kaushal and Saurabh Shukla, followed by dance performances on popular Hindi and Norwegian film songs.

While Rahul Mittra and Saurabh Shukla will be awarded for their contribution to Indian cinema
and for consistently backing good content, Sham Kaushal will be presented with the Lifetime
Achievement Award for his exemplary work in the field of action, direction and stunt coordination in Bollywood and Hollywood movies.

Bollywood Festival is one of Scandinavia's biggest film festivals, devoted to a greater
appreciation of Indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, supporting emerging filmmakers, recognizing the leadership of entertainment industry performers and business leaders and promoting diverse perspectives of the Indian diaspora.

"By bringing the best of Indian cinema to Norway, Bollywood Festival Norway presents a singular platform that fosters creative and technical talent and cultural exchange," said organisers in a statement.

"This year we will pay tribute to Lata Mangeshkar with live music from very good artists from India, the UK and Norway. When you hear Mistu Bardan sing, it's almost like hearing Lata and Prem Bhatia sing like Rafi. You will also hear Sanjana Thakur, an excellent singer from Mumbai. He will sing both his own and Lata's songs. Posh James is hosting the evening and will also be singing Lata's songs," said the statement.

The husband-wife duo of Nasrullah and Pritpal Qureshi are the festival directors along with head of festival programme Hemant Wason, who has been consistently organising the festival over the past two decades which has today become synonymous with Indian cinema, culture and cuisine, attracting celebrities and audiences from across the world.