Adil Hussain's 'Mukti Bhawan' opens Dharamsala film festival

With a picturesque venue between the lush green mountains of Mcleodganj here, the sixth edition of Dharamshala International Film Festival (DIFF) opened with critically-acclaimed actor Adil Hussain's Mukti Bhawan to a full house.

Mukti Bhawan is based on the tale of a 77-year-old man, who wakes from a strange nightmare convinced that his time is up and that he must go to Varanasi to die and gain salvation.

About his experience on filming for a subject of death, Adil said: "We have to die at some point no matter who we are or where we are and is the only inevitable fact...Going to Varanasi for the coming was very enlightening for me because I actually walked around the burning bodies. That sort of fortified my belief in death."

The four-day-long extravaganza will also have film screenings at the city's new multiplex with two auditoriums at Gold Cinemas in Lower Dharamsala.

The offbeat film fest is organised by filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam.

There will also be a special screening of the critically acclaimed A Death in the Gunj, which will be presented by director Konkona Sen Sharma.

The line-up also includes two award-winning documentaries -- Kirsten Johnson's Cameraperson and Rahul Jain's Machines.

The festival will end on November 5 with Rima Das' Village Rockstar as the closing film.