ETW Staff – Mumbai
Cuba is hosting an Indian cultural festival in Havana from October 29- 31, 2013. This festival will be formally inaugurated by the vice president of India Hamid Ansari in the Theater Mella in Havana with the Sangeet Natak academy’s dance festival called Nrtiyarupa. This Gala Indian cultural festival also coincides with the state visit of the vice president of India Hamid Ansari. The inaugural function would be attended by the Cuban first vice president and a number of senior dignitaries from the Indian and Cuban side. The festival would manifest many elements of long, rich and diverse Indian cultural heritage and would be the largest Indian cultural festival ever held in Latin America and the Caribbean. This reflects the special place that Cuba enjoys among Indians.
The festival features over three days would include: Indian classical dance festival at the Theater Mella, Havana; Indian Film Festival at the Charles Chaplin Cinema, Havana; Indian Literary Festival at the Casa del Alba.
The Indian film festival would be held in the Charles Chaplin cinema theater. The inaugural film screened would be ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ which was filmed in Cuba. Other films being screened include ‘Raja Harishchandra’ (mute), ‘Taare Zameen Par’ (Hindi), ‘Taal’ and ‘Parineeta’ (Hindi). The Indian film festival is being coordinated by the ministry of information and broadcasting.
The festival of India in Cuba is being coordinated by the ministry of culture in association with the Sahitya Academy, the Sangeet Natak Academy and the ministry of information and broadcasting. The secretary, union ministry of culture Ravindra Singh who is in Cuba to mark the occasion said, “The festival is expected to bring the Indian and Cuban people closer to each other and will enhance people to people contact in a long standing friendship.”
