"'Life of Pi' will be the opening film at IFFI. The film will be premiering on November 20 while the closing film will be Mira Nair's political thriller 'The Reluctant Fundamentalist'," Shankar Mohan, Director of IFFI, told reporters here.
"We are in the 100th year of cinema..For us opening and closing films have always been important. We were looking for films that have deep Indian connect. And these two films had it," he said.
The film tells the story of a boy who is left in the sea in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger after his family drowns in a shipwreck.
Starring Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Adil Hussain and debutant Suraj Sharma it releases in 3D on November 23.
"Tabu and Irrfan will be present during the premiere but Lee won't be there as he is not in India. We are happy to have the actors at the festival'' we share good relations with them," Mohan said.
