Anushka Sharma, Anurag at GOW London Premiere : Bollywood News

The third edition of the hugely popular London Indian Film Festival (June 20-July3) got off to an explosive start with the sold out UK premiere of director Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur. It was standing room only at the Cineworld Haymarket as film buffs from across the world jostled for space at the glittering red carpet arrivals. Anurag Kashyap arrived looking natty in a Narendra Kumar creation. Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, whose film Dekh Indian Circus plays June 23 at the Watermans Arts Centre and June 24 at BFI Southbank, glit-tered in a Khubsoorat outfit as did Rang Rasiya (Colours of Passion) stunner Ferena Wa-zeir.

The celebrity wave continued with acclaimed British Asian actors Riz Ahmed (Ill Manors, Trishna), Upen Patel (Namastey London) and Shiv Jhala (whose Arjun & Alison will enjoy its World Premiere at the festival on June 30), walking the red carpet and obliging screaming fans with photo opportunities. Directors Asif Kapadia (Senna), Michael Winter-bottom (Trishna) Q (Gandu), Sidarth Sharma (Arjun & Alison), Devanand Shanmugam (whose Tooting Broadway will World Premiere at the festival on June 22) and Sarovar Banka (A Decent Arrangement) were just some of the high-octane talent present on the occasion.

Anushka Sharma, Anurag at GOW London Premiere

Bollywood royalty arrived in the shape of Pamela Chopra, the legendary Yash Chopra's wife and the Associate Producer of one of Indian cinema's all time biggest hits Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Anushka Sharma who is currently filming in London for Yash Chopra's next, along with Shah Rukh Khan, sneaked into the cinema anony-mously. She enjoyed Gangs Of Wasseypur enormously and is looking forward to working with Anurag in Bombay Velvet.

Anurag Kashyap said, "The London Indian Film Festival is lucky for me. My Dev D played in year one. That Girl In Yellow Boots premiered in year two and got UK distribution and now I've opened the festival. It's a great platform."

Festival Director Cary Sawhney said, "We are delighted that this year's London Indian Film Festi-val has opened to such a tremendous response. We have a diverse range of events scheduled for the next two weeks, including the brilliant collaboration of director Q's Gandu Circus along with Susheela Raman and the Asian Dub Foundation's Steve Chandra Savale at BFI Southbank on June 21, and many World and UK film premieres. And for those who couldn't get tickets for Gangs Of Wasseypur, there are two more screenings scheduled on June 28 at the ICA and on June 30 at Cineworld Shaftesbury Avenue."