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His next release, Delhi Belly, will have its world premiere in London at the Indian Film Festival that starts at the end of the month

From Satyajit Ray to Abhinav Deo, the world is indeed a stage for Indian cinema. On June 30, the London Indian Film Festival will open at Cineworld, Haymarket, with the Delhi Belly, starring Imran Khan, a film now (in)famous for its controversial song, Bhaag DK Bose. The film releases worldwide the next day, so we look forward to seeing Imran and wife Avantika on the red carpet looking, as always, a glam cutsie pie couple, with maamu Aamir Khan and his jaan Kiran Rao in fond attendance. And the fest is a showcase for all sorts of films, from Ketan Mehta’s Colours of Passion, based on the life of painter Raja Ravi Varma, to Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl in Yellow Boots starring real-life wife Kalki Koechlin. Memories in March (with the brilliant Deepti Naval) and Just Another Love Story (about two generations of transsexuals in Bengal) are Rituparno Ghosh’s contributions to the event. The Hindi White Elephant (with the star value of Neena Gupta) and National Award-winner The Way Home (Prithviraj) will be big draws, while Autograph, which closes the festival, is – in its story – a warming tribute to Satyajit Ray and Uttam Kumar. There will also be a new contest, the Satyajit Ray Foundation’s Short Film Competition, with an award of £1,000 for the winner. This should be a fun fortnight indeed!