Guj CM inaugurates film fest organised by RSS-backed outfit

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday inaugurated the third edition of the Chitra

Bharati Film Festival organised by RSS-backed outfit Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana in Ahmedabad.

The opening ceremony of the three-day short film festival was held at a hall in the premises of the Gujarat

University and it will culminate on February 23, a statement issued by the Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana said.

In his address, Rupani congratulated the audience on the occasion of International Mother Language Day and praised

Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana for promoting Indian culture and values through this film festival, the outfit's release said.

International Mother Language Day has been observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and

cultural diversity and multilingualism. Among those who attended the opening ceremony of the

film festival were Bollywood filmmaker Subhash Ghai and Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Prasoon

Joshi. A total of 141 films, divided into four categories,

namely campus films, animation films, short films and documentaries, will be screened.

Some of the main topics are Indian culture and values, constructive work, Indian family, social harmony and national

security, it said. "The Bharatiya Chitra Sadhana was created in 2016 to

encourage films promoting ancient and modern Bharatiya values and philosophy. We want Bharat to be the leading nation of the

world in the field of films promoting integral humanism, thereby re-establishing the supremacy of Bharatiya ethos and

philosophy," the release said. The closing ceremony and distribution of awards on

February 23 will take place in the presence of Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar, it

added.