He played a jailbird in many of his films and on saturday, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, in the company pf Shah Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma watched a dance drama by prisoners at the inauguration of the 18th Kolkata International Film Festival here Saturday.

Bachchan, the chief guest at the festival, enjoyed the eight-minute dance drama, an excerpt from Rabindranath Tagore's "Valmiki Pratibha" directed by dancer and choreographer Alakananda Roy.

The dance drama at the Netaji Indoor Stadium was the inspirational story of the dacoit Ratnakar and his eventual transformation into a 'valmiki' (sage).

The group of 48 dancers are inmates of the city correctional homes.

"Thank you all for appreciating the artists in them (prisoners). With your love and their hard work they can ignite the artists in them," Roy said.

"Let us give them a second chance, if not a third. Let's not push them aside, rather forgive their follies and inspire and wish them for a new beginning," added Roy.