By: Anjelika Dandekar

The first-ever Indian Film Festival of Israel launched earlier this week in the Middle Eastern nation, with six hand-picked Bollywood films selected to screen at cinema halls in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa over the course of 20 days.

Films will also be screened at Shai Motion Pictures in Petah Tikva, according to festival organizers.

Kicking off on December 7, the non-competitive showcase will feature six of the biggest films coming out of Bollywood in recent years, including the award-winning films Taare Zameen Par (directed by Aamir Khan), Rock On!! (starring Farhan Akhtar) and A Wednesday (Naseerudin Shah and Anupam Kher).

Other films screening include Corporate (starring Bipasha Basu), Anaahat (Sonali Bendre) and Baazi (Dev Anand).

All films will be screened at least three times during the festival, with A Wednesday the one exception with four screenings.

The festival will conclude on December 26.

Information about the films screening may be found here http://www.indembassy.co.il/Additional%20files/Whats%20on%20-%20IFF.pdf

, while the complete schedule is posted on the Indian Embassy website http://www.indembassy.co.il/Film%20Festival.htm

This year’s inaugural festival was organized by the Indian Embassy in Israel and was put together in the spirit of historically positive relations between the two countries. India officially recognized Israel as a nation-state on September 7, 1950; subsequently, the Jewish Agency established an immigration office in Bombay. That office would eventually become the home of an Israeli consular office in India.

Both countries have since embarked on several bilateral missions, reaching accords on many key issues benefiting both countries.