7 Khoon Maaf gets standing ovation in Berlinale

Vishal Bhardwaj's 7 Khoon Maaf, a story of a serial husband killer, has received an overwhelming response from cinema enthusiasts at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.

The Priyanka Chopra starrer movie had its world premiere in the Panorama section of the festival on Thursday.

Around 2,500 people watched the film at the Friedrichstadt Palace, Berlin's largest theatre, and gave the director and his nine-member cast and crew a standing ovation as they came on the stage at the end of its screening.

"I am very pleased to be back in Berlin," said Bhardwaj, who had visited the festival seven-years ago to screen Maqbool, a Bollywood adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.

Bhardwaj's new film tells the story of Susanna Anna-Marie, played by Priyanka Chopra, who over a period of 35 years, gets married seven times and kills all her husbands.

"I can now go back to India with my head high that this film, which hits the Indian theatres on the same day, had such a fantastic reception in Berlin," Bhardwaj said.

Flanked by Annu Kapoor and Vivian Shah, who play two of Susanna's seven husbands and the film's screenplay writer Matthew Robbins, Bharadwaj said the Berlinale premiere is a perfect start for his film, which is based on a short story Sussanna's Seven Husbands by Ruskin Bond.

Two more screenings of 7 Khoon Maaf were scheduled before the ten-day Berlinale concludes on Sunday and festival organisers said both screenings had been almost sold out.

Bhardwaj was earlier given a rousing reception by a large gathering of film fans as he arrived at the Friedrichstadt Palace, accompanied by his wife Rekha, to attend the premiere of his film.

Maqbool, Bharadwaj's second feature film, gained international popularity after it received critical acclaim at the Berlin Film Festival.

His last feature film Kaminey featured Chopra in a small role alongside Shahid Kapoor.