There were some poignant moments at the 17th Kolkata Film Festival inauguration Thursday as yesteryears Bollywood heroine Sharmila Tagore, who recently lost her husband, former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, recalled that she had met him in this city and also married him here.

Addressing the audience after inaugurating the festival jointly with megastar Shah Rukh Khan, Tagore said she felt good to be in the "very comforting and familiar atmosphere of Kolkata".

Tagore, a great-grandniece of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, said: "This is my home. I have grown up here and attended school here. My film career also began (with Satyajit Ray's Apur Sansar) here."

"This is where I met my husband. This is where I got married. This city has wonderful memories for me, " she said.

Tagore, who turns 66 Dec 8, again turned nostalgic towards the end of the speech. The trigger was the tune of a very popular Tagore song "Purano sei diner katha" (Memories of the good old days), played by the Kolkata Music Academy Orchestra conducted by Abraham Mazumdar.

"I just want to thank Abraham Mazumdar for the wonderful music, for his 'Purano Sei diner katha bhulbi ki re hai'. This song was my mother's favourite.

"It brings back so many memories, " she added.

Pataudi, an Indian cricket legend who personified style on and off the field, died Sep 22 in New Delhi after battling a lung infection. He was 70.

Pataudi and Tagore married Dec 27, 1969, after a four-year courtship.