MUMBAI: It‘s official. Akshay Kumar will inaugurate the ten-day International Film Festival of India (IFFI) that gets underway 20th November in Goa.

It needs to be noted that the name of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan was doing rounds to inaugurate the annual film festival.

"Akshay Kumar will be inaugurating the IFFI this year," said Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) vice chairman Vishnu Wagh.

Wagh also said that the inauguration of the IFFI this time around could move from being ritually held indoors to a picturesque river jetty located in the city itself.

"It will be a much grander event this year with over 2,500 people attending it, as against the 1,000 odd invitees, who were traditionally invited every year," Wagh observed.

"The government of Goa would be spending around Rs.9 crore for the 10-day event. The central government will only foot the bill for the inaugural and closing ceremonies," he added.