IFFI’23 : All eyes were on American actor and producer and Hollywood legend Michael Douglas as he made his grand entry at the 54th edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) now in the concluding leg in Goa. The actor, who is the recipient of two Academy Awards, was seen with his actor-wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and son Dylan Douglas.
In Goa, he will be awarded with the Satyajit Ray Excellence in Film Lifetime Award at the closing ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India. He expressed his happiness to be in Goa for the first time in his life accompanied by his family, wife Catherine-Zeta Jones and their son, Dylan.
Speaking on the occasion, he said, “Our family loves India. We have the honour, joy, and pleasure to be here in Goa for the first time. I am grateful to IFFI to get this wonderful honour.” Dressed in a resplendent dark jacket with a vibrant motif, that he described as his “Rajasthani jacket”, Douglas appeared happy and relaxed as he talked to the media. He said how he had read the history of Satyajit Ray back in college in the 1960s and while taking a film class he became aware of some of his works.
“The greatness of Ray is that he was not only a director, but also a writer, film editor, musician, all at the same time,” said the Hollywood star.
He has made his mark with immemorable roles with his sterling performance in iconic films like The American President, Basic Instinct, Wall Street, Traffic and Behind the Candelabra. In the recent past, he played the role of Dr Hank Pym in four Marvel Cinematic Universe films, ‘Ant Man’, ‘Ant Man and the Wasp’, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ and ‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantamania’.
Michael Douglas joins the league of film greats like Martin Scorsese, Dilip Kumar, Bernardo Bertolucci, and the most recent awardee Carlos Saura.
Bengali