Cinema enthusiasts could catch a glimpse of Bollywood A-listers such as Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra at the upcoming Patna Film Festival.

The art, culture and youth affairs department has invited several big cine stars at the fest to be held between February 19 and 25.

This is the second time after 2006 when the state government has organised a film festival. Chief minister Nitish Kumar is likely to inaugurate the festival at SK Memorial Hall on February 19. Movies in various languages will be screened at Mona and Elphinstone cinemas.

Vivek Kumar Singh, secretary, art, culture and youth affairs department, said: "The film festival is being jointly organised by the directorate of film festival, a wing of the ministry of information and broadcasting, and state directorate of culture. We have requested the directorate of film festival to send invitations to renowned film stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Priyanka Chopra among others to participate in the film festival. The interaction of such big artistes with the audience would make the festival more lively and informative."

The senior IAS officer, however, claimed that a confirmation from the stars is still to come. "We would also invite movie stars from Bihar as well, including Shatrughan Sinha and Manoj Bajpayee," added Vivek.

The first Patna Film Festival was organised from February 11 to 18 in 2006 at Mona cinema. Noted film personalities such as Shekhar Kapoor, Sudhir Mishra, Aziz Mirza, Shatrughan Sinha, Shekhar Suman, Manoj Bajpayee Prakash Jha and others had attended the fest. A total of 24 films from India, Iran, Canada and China were screened at the festival, which kicked off with the screening of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam films were also screened at the festival.

When The Telegraph asked Vivek on the movies to be screened in this year's upcoming film festival, he said: "We would screen critically acclaimed movies in different languages. According to guidelines, only movies made with digital cinema package will be screened at the festival."

A digital cinema package is a collection of digital files used to store and convey digital cinema audio, image, and data streams.

"The movies to be screened in the film festival will be selected by the directorate of film festival, Government of India. Apart from normal-length commercial movies, several documentaries and short movies will also be screened at the festival. Most movies will be from the Indian Panorama category," said a senior official in the state culture directorate.

A few of the movies screened in the India Panorama section at the International Film Festival of India recently held in Goa included Salman Khan-starrer Bajrangi Bhaijaan (Hindi), India's 2016 Oscar entry Court (Marathi), multiple award-winner Masaan (Hindi), The Man Who Knew Infinity (British), Radiopetti (Tamil), Ram Singh Charlie (Hindi), The Head Hunter (Arunachal), Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa (Hindi), Rajkahini (Bengali), Pakaram (Bengali), Nachom-ia Kumpasar (Konkani) and Lukka Chuppi (Malayalam) among others.