Goa, Nov 19 (IANS): Actress Sheena Chohan will host the 45th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), which kicks off here Thursday. Two legends of Indian cinema - megastar Amitabh Bachchan and superstar Rajinikanth - will share the dais at the opening ceremony.

The festival will conclude Nov 30.

"Happy to announce that I am selected to host the prestigious 45th International Film Festival of India, where @SrBachchan and Rajnikanth Sir are the chief guests (sic)," Sheena tweeted Wednesday.

"It's going to be a whole new cinematically enriching experience for 10 days in Goa with the legends from the world of cinema," she posted.

Amitabh will attend the fest as the chief guest, while Rajinikanth will be conferred with Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year.

The fest would screen 179 films from 75 countries across different categories which include World Cinema (61 films), Masterstrokes (11 films), Festival Kaleidoscope (20 films), Soul of Asia (7 films), Documentaries (6 films), and Animated Films (6 films).

Besides, the Indian Panorama section would include 41 feature and non-feature films. The northeast being the focus region of the festival, IFFI 2014 would be showcasing 7 films from there.

"The President" directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf will be the opening film of the fest, while "The Grandmaster" by Wong Kar-wai, who will receive the lifetime achievement award, would be the closing film.

Retrospective sections on Gulzar and Jahnu Baruah, special homage films on Richard Attenborough, Robin Williams, Zohra Sehgal, Suchitra Sen, and special tribute to Farooq Sheikh would be other attractions this year.

A special section of films that focus on dance, personality based retrospectives, and Masterclasses/workshops would also form a part of IFFI 2014.