Oscar-winning Indian composer A.R Rahman's son Ameen gave his first public performance at the opening ceremony of 10th Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) here Thursday.

The 10-year-old Ameen performed a short medley on the piano from Mani Ratnam's "Roja" to a full house here, while students from Rahman's KM music conservatory also entertained with exhilarating performances.

Members from KM foundation choir performed "Al Maddath Maula" from Aamir Kan starrer "Mangal Pandey" and two of Rahman's greatest Tamil hits from "Thiruda Thiruda" and "Kadhalan".

The event was led by Tamil actress Suhasini Maniratnam along with Tamil actor R. Sarath Kumar, president, South Indian Artists Association and Tamil director Ameer and cinematographer S.P Jananathan.

Speaking at the event, Sarath Kumar said: "This event wouldn't have been possible without the support of Tamil Nadu government and the relentless effort of Suhasini and her team".

"We've requested the state government to sanction us funds to have separate screening theatres to organize film festivals and encourage the development of arts," he added.

The eight-day long event will screen 154 films from over 50 countries. Out of the 154 films, 12 Tamil, 9 Indian panorama and 133 foreign films will be screened.

The 12 Tamil films will compete in a special category competition to be judged by Veteran Tamil actor Sivakumar, cinematographer B.R Vijayalakshmi and national award winning Tamil director A. Sarkunam.

The winners will receive trophies from megastar Amitabh Bachchan on Dec 20. The opening film of the festival was French drama "Amour".