Panaji, Oct 23 (IANS): The 43rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) will pay special homage to Bollywood director Yash Chopra, who died Sunday.

Manoj Srivastava, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Entertainment Society of Goa, which co-organises the festival, said Tuesday a cinematic tribute to the filmmaker was on the cards.

"The festival wanted to pay tribute to the creative genius of Yash Chopra. Now it will be a homage to the great soul," he said.

Yash Chopra earned the tag of King of Romance after churning out romatic sagas "Daag", "Kabhi Kabhie", Silsila, "Lamhe", "Chandni" and "Dil To Pagal Hai".

Before venturing into the romance genre, he proved his versatility by making a film on communal harmony, "Dharamputra".

His "Kaala Patthar" was inspired by a real-life mining disaster and "Ittefaq" was an experimental thriller.

Srivastava feels it was wrong to call him the King of Romance.

"Yashji discovered romance post 'Silsila'. He made much more diverse films before 'Silsila'. He was a far more substantive filmmaker," he said.

The 10-day festival will be held here from Nov 20 and will be inaugurated by Bollywood star Akshay Kumar.