Amitabh Bachchan thrilled with Florence tribute

Plus: Paresh Rawal on the importance of scripts; Manish Vatsalaya announces next film; Gangs of Wasseypur earns Asia-Pacific Fest nods.

Amitabh Bachchan will be the subject of a retrospective at the River to River 2012 Indian Film Festival. Valery Hache / AFP

Amitabh Bachchan will attend the River to River 2012 Indian Film Festival from Friday until December 13 in Florence, where a retrospective of his films will be held. The 70-year-old Bollywood superstar took to Twitter to share his excitement about the event, where his movies Sholay (1975), Deewaar (1975), Black (2005) and Everlasting Light (2006), a documentary on him, will be screened. "Tomorrow heading to Florence, Italy, as guest of honour for the film festival which does a retrospective of my films, starting with Black," Bachchan posted on Twitter. On Saturday, the French icon Catherine Deneuve presented a tribute to Bachchan at the 12th Marrakech International Film Festival. The festival, which runs until Saturday, has a special section celebrating the centenary of Indian cinema. - IANS

Paresh Rawal: prime importance of a script

The veteran actor Paresh Rawal says a good script is what matters most for him. "I believe a script needs to be strong for a movie to do well. I always give preference to the script before zeroing in on any project," said the 62-year-old actor, who was last seen on the big screen in Umesh Shukla's OMG: Oh My God!, which he also produced. Rawal's next project is the thriller Table No 21, directed by Aditya Datt and co-starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Tena Desae. "I took up the offer because I loved the script. The story is dealt in such a way that the audience will get completely engrossed in the film," Rawal said. The film is scheduled to arrive in cinemas on January 4. - IANS

Manish Vatsalaya announces next project

After helming the gangster film Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal, the director Manish Vatsalaya announced that his next project is a political drama titled Dusherra. "The script has been locked in and the shooting will start in February," said Vatsalaya. "At the moment the songs are being recorded." The filmmaker said the film focuses on the Indian police force and that it will be filmed in the city of Satara. Although the cast has been finalised, Vatsalaya refused to divulge any names but promised to reveal them in the coming weeks. "We are looking at releasing it sometime in October next year," he added. Jeena Hai Toh, released last September, was the 32-year-old's directorial debut. It starred the actors Ravi Kissen, Yashpal Sharma and Rahul Kumar. - IANS

Gangs of Wasseypur earns Asia-Pacific fest nods

Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur has bagged four nominations, including Best Film and Best Director, at the 55th Asia-Pacific Film Festival. The two other Indian movies that received nods are Anurag Basu's Barfi! and Sujoy Ghosh's Kahaani. Gangs of Wasseypur is also nominated for Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actress, for Huma Qureshi. Vidya Balan has been shortlisted in the Best Actress category for her performance in Kahaani, while Barfi! has been nominated for its music by Pritam Chakraborty. Aside from Gangs of Wasseypur, the movies in contention for Best Film are I Wish (Japan), Life Without Principle (Hong Kong), Lore (Australia), Masquerade (South Korea) and Bunohan (Malaysia). The award ceremony will be held on December 15 at The Venetian Macau-Resort Hotel in Macau, China. - IANS