Mumbai, Sep 10 (IANS): Konkona Sensharmas directorial debut "A Death in The Gunj", which had its world premiere at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival, will be the opening film of Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival.

The festival is set to run October 20-27, and its opening ceremony will be held at the revamped Royal Opera House here.

"I'm truly excited and honoured that the movie will be the opening film at MAMI. It is the city of my work and where the film was conceived and prepped, and I'm really looking forward to the people of my city watching it," Konkona said in a statement. 

On the film being selected to open the gala, the festival director Anupama Chopra said: "Last year, we opened with Hansal Mehta's powerful 'Aligarh' and we are delighted that 'A Death in the Gunj', another Indian film, will be opening for the festival this year. It is a perfect film to unfold the incredible line-up we've assembled for our delegates."

Set in the 1970s during a family vacation and based on true events, the film is a murder mystery about the challenges associated with coming-of-age.

Featuring Vikrant Massey, Kalki Koechlin, Tillotama Shome, Ranvir Shorey, Gulshan Devaiah and Om Puri in the lead, "A Death in The Gunj" unfolds over a span of seven days and it's the story of a family from Kolkata visiting parents settled in McCluskiegunj.

Produced by Abhishek Chaubey and Honey Trehan under the banner of Macguffin Pictures, the film is said to have been wrapped up in six weeks earlier this year in March.