Abuja - The First Lady of Nigeria, Dame Patience Jonathan, recalled popular Hindi films "Sholay" and "The Burning Train" and well-known Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan as she expressed hope that the Nigerian and Indian film industry could engage in partnerships to foster closer bilateral ties.

Addressing the inauguration of the first ever Indian Film Festival at Abuja, Dame Jonathan, the chief guest, said the contribution of the film industry in India and Nigeria in terms of wealth creation and revenue generation cannot be overemphasized.

The First Lady conveyed the special greetings of Nigerian President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to the event.

She said that like Nigeria with a population of over 160 million, "India is equally blessed with a huge population of over 1.2 billion. "We can therefore imagine what this translates to in economic terms."

"We look forward to the possibility of stakeholders in the film industry from Bollywood and Nollywood (Nigeria film industry) engaging in partnerships or exchange programmes that will yield mutual benefits and promote better understanding between our two countries," she said at the event held March 31at the Silverbird Cinema complex.

The opening ceremony was attended by about 250 invited dignitaries, including senior politicians, diplomats, members associated with the Nigerian film industry- Nollywood, eminent personalities and selected members of the Indian community.

Declaring the festival to celebrate 100 years of India films open, Dame Jonathan said she was happy that the festival was "bringing together citizens of the two sister countries in a special atmosphere of celebration".

Indian High Commissioner A.R. Ghanashyam, welcoming Dame Jonathan and other dignitaries, said that conceptualization to implementation of the film festival took less than four weeks "thanks to the commendable cooperation and contribution of a large number of Nigerian and Indian stakeholders".

The Richard Attenborough directed Academy award winning film "Gandhi" was the inaugural film of the festival.

The High Commissioner expressed hope that the festival would "ultimately lead to a Nigerian Film Festival in New Delhi, preferably inaugurated with the latest Hollywood movie "Half of a Yellow Sun" based on the book of the same name by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozei Adichie".

Ghanashyam also spoke about the "vast scope for mutually beneficial cooperation between our two countries in the area of filmmaking by virtue of complementing comparative advantages and experiences the two countries enjoy in the area".

The opening ceremony was followed by dinner for all the invitees and screening of "Gandhi".

Bollywood stars, including Shah Rukh Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Anil Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Sonam, Dimple Kapadia and John Abraham sent their best wishes for the film festival.

Among the Indian films screened were "Lagaan", "Pardes", "Chak De India", "Stanley ka Dabba", "Jodhaa Akbar", "Sholay", "Devdas", "Dhoom 2" and "3 Idiots".

The festival concluded with a closing ceremony on April 6