The inaugural ceremony was attended by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh and veteran actor Rishi Kapoor, who was the guest of honour.
"The BRICS summit is about to happen in India in a few weeks so, it's obvious to have this festival now. 43 per cent of the world population, about 37 per cent of world's GDP is all between these five nations. I wouldn't be surprised if the world is looking at what these countries are upto," Rathore said while addressing the audience.
"Veeram" is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, "Macbeth", and is the fifth installment in Jayaraj's "Navarasa" series.
The film's team was felicitated at the festival. Kunal said he felt honoured that a special movie like "Veeram" got to open the fest.
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"This is a very special movie. Our blood, sweat and hardwork have gone into its making. I am happy that it is opening the festival and cannot wait for the audience's response," he said on stage.
The ceremony saw performances from the artists of all the five countries. While a Brazilian band first mesmerised the audience, it was followed by an upbeat dancing-act by a Russian theatre group.
Eminent Indian dancer Sonal Mansingh presented her troupe performing various yoga asans in the form of dance, while artists from South Africa and China also gave engaging performances.
The five-day festival will screen films from Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa besides India.
The festival will also have a competitive section. Each member country will nominate four films showcasing creative talent from selected themes and thus a total of 20 films will be screened.
From Brazil, the films competing are-- "History of Eternity", "Road 47", "Between Valleys" and "They will come back", while Russian movies in the section include "14+", "About Love" and "The battle of Sevastopol".
"Go Away Mr Tumour", "Xuan Zang", "The Songs of Phoenix" and "Book of Love 2" are the Chinese movies in competition, and South African films in the category are-- "Free State", "The story of Mahalanga", "Mrs Right Guy" and "Tess".
Cinema delegates from the participating nations were also felicitated that included Bengali filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly and actor Parambrata Chatterjee.
The jury, including Kannada filmmaker T S Nagabharana, will give their recommendation for an award, which will include a BRICS Gold Medal and certificate of excellence under several categories such as best film, best director, and best actor male and female.