'Thithi', 'Angry Indian Goddesses' to screen at IFFM

June 21, 2016

Melbourne, Jun 21: "Thithi", "Ottaal", "Parched" and "Angry Indian Goddesses" are among the 50 movies that would be screened at the fifth Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) to be held here from August 11 till 21.

thithiThemed on 'Women Empowerment', this year's edition of the festival will screen movies in 17 different languages.

Leena Yadav-directed film "Parched" will be the opening film, while Pan Nalin's "Angry Indian Goddesses" has been announced as the closing film of the festival.

The festival will feature a special awards night, a flag hoisting event by Bollywood star Rish Kapoor and a Q&A session with festival guests like Vidya Balan and Richa Chadha.

The program was officially launched by Mind Blowing Films head Mitu Bhowmick in the presence of Melbourne based Consul General Manika Jain at a press conference held here yesterday.

Commending Bhowmick's effort to run the Bollywood festival successfully every year on a theme, Jain said that Indian government was currently working on 'Festival of India' initiative to be held this year which will further showcase Indian arts and culture Down Under.

Bhowmick said the opening night will screen Leena Yadav directed film 'Parched' followed by the awards night the next day that would present musical performance by Pakistani singer Sarah Haider, award-winning singer Shalmali Kholgade and other notable local performers.

Like last year, IFFM celebrations will coincide with the Indian Independence day and this year Rishi will hoist the tricolor at the iconic building of Federal Square in Melbourne.

A Bollywood dance competition, a charity initiative event would also be part of this year's festival.

The festival will also announce the awards in the categories of the best film, best actor, best director, best actress, and best Indie film.

The nominations for best actor include Shah Rukh Khan for "Fan", Nawazuddin Siddiqui for "Raman Raghav 2.0", Ranveer Singh for "Bajirao Mastani" and Manoj Bajapi for "Aligarh".

In the female category nominees include Sonam Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Radhika Apte and Rituparna Sengupta.

The best film nominations included "Neerja", "Kapoor & Sons", "Bajirao Mastani" and "Raman Raghav 2.0."

IFFM has been dubbed as an important Indian cultural event for Melbourne drawing over 35000 attendees last year.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: After donating to UNICEF to combat COVID-19, actor Kareena Kapoor Khan on Thursday announced that she will also contribute to PM-CARES Fund and Maharashtra's CM Relief Fund along with her husband Saif Ali Khan and son Taimur Ali Khan.

Kareena made the announcement through an Instagram post and also urged others to do their bit by doing whatever is possible.

"We extend our support to the PM CARES Fund and the Chief Minister's Relief Fund (Maharashtra)," read an official statement post by Kareena on Instagram.

"In times like these, every helping hand and every rupee raised matters. Do Help wherever possible," the statement further read.

However, the amount of donation hasn't been revealed in the post.

The star couple has joined a list of celebrities including Akshay Kumar, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal and others who too have extended support to PM CARES Fund to fight against coronavirus.

Earlier on March 31, the 'Jab We Met' actor had announced their contribution to UNICEF, GIVE INDIA and the International Association of Human Values (IAHV).

There are 1764 active coronavirus cases in the country, while 150 people have been cured and 50 have died, as per the Union Health Ministry. 

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News Network
April 8,2020

Washington, Apr 8: Choosing stethoscope over the crown, Miss England 2019, Bhasha Mukherjee, has returned to work as a doctor as the world battles with coronavirus pandemic.

According to CNN, she was a junior doctor with a specialisation in respiratory medicine, before being crowned as Miss England in August last year. The beauty queen, who has her roots in India's Kolkata city, had taken a career break from the medical field.

She had paused her medical career for some humanitarian work that she was offered by several charities and was on a tour to different countries including India.

"I was invited to Africa, to Turkey, then to India, Pakistan and several other Asian countries to be an ambassador for various charity work," CNN quoted her as saying.

She had been in India at the beginning of March for four weeks. During her stay as an ambassador of the Coventry Mercia Lions Club, the 24-year-old had visited several schools and had donated stationery and other items to the needy.

Mukherjee then returned back UK as the situation worsened there with the coronavirus spreading at a fast rate. She then contacted the hospital and asked them that she wanted to rejoin.

According to CNN, the Miss England beauty pageant winner said that she felt wrong to be wearing the crown while people around the world were dying from the virus.

"When you are doing all this humanitarian work abroad, you're still expected to put the crown on, get ready... look pretty. I wanted to come back home. I wanted to come and go straight to work," CNN quoted her as saying.

"I felt a sense of this is what I'd got this degree for and what better time to be part of this particular sector than now. It was incredible the way the whole world was celebrating all key workers, and I wanted to be one of those, and I knew I could help," she added.

As the beauty queen has a recent travel history, she is currently in self-isolation and will return to work once her quarantine period is over.
She was crowned as Miss England 2019 in August last year.

According to World Health Organisation, 13,53,361people have been affected by coronavirus and over 80,000 people have lost their lives to it.

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News Network
February 24,2020

New Delhi, Feb 24: Indian Idol 11 winner is Bhatinda's Sunny Hindustani. Sunny, who mostly sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's songs on the show, won the coveted trophy. The Bhatinda boy took home the Indian Idol 11 trophy along with the prize money of Rs 25 lakh, a car and a singing contract with T-Series.

Sunny's entry on the show was much-talked-about. His soul-soothing voice had mesmerised the judges on the audition day itself as he sang Afreen Afreen. He got a standing ovation and former Indian Idol 11 judge Anu Malik even said that he felt as if Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan himself was performing on the Indian Idol stage. His audition video had gone viral after Anand Mahindra shared it on social media.

On the finale night, Sunny sang a medley of songs, which included Mere Rashke Qamar and Halka Halka Suroor. Ayushmann got emotional seeing Sunny's journey on screen. He said, "Hum na actor bade self-obsessed hote hain. Humein lagta hai hamari struggle sabse achchi hai, sabse badi hai. Inke saamne toh kuch hai he nahi. Jahaan se aye hai, jitna hunar inke paas hai...mujhe lagta hai inki maa sabse ameer hain."

The first and second runner-up of the show Rohit Raut and Ankona Mukherjee got Rs 5 lakh each, while Ridham Kalyan and Adriz Ghosh who were fourth and fifth on the show, took Rs 3 lakh home. Every finalist also received Rs 1 lakh cheque from Lotus Herbals and gift hampers from the sponsors.

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