The 29th Kolkata International Film Festival kicked off today at Netaji Indoor Stadium in presence of veteran actors, film stars and musicians from Tollywood and Bollywood. Salman Khan announced the festival opening, while Anil Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Sonakshi Sinha, Mahesh Bhatt and Timangshu Dhulia attended the event as special guests. Ranjit Mallick, Sabitri Chatterjee, Madhabi Mukherjee, Anjan Dutt, Lily Chakraborty, Paran Bandopadhyay, Sandip Ray and Dipankar De were felicitated for their contributions to cinema over the decades. Global dignitaries and jury members such as Pavel Lungin from Russia, and Laurence Kardish from USA were present too.