Film on Hindu-Muslim unity wins top award at UK festival

Agencies
June 30, 2017

London, Jun 30: A new film about Hindu-Muslim unity bagged the top prize at the annual London Indian Film Festival (LIFF).hindumuslim

"A Billion Colour Story", produced by Bollywood filmmaker Satish Kaushik and directed by Padmakumar Narasimhamurthy, won the Audience Award at the festival last evening for what was described as a heart-warming tale.

"It's incredibly special for us that 'A Billion Colour Story' resonates with audiences across countries and continents. It continues to vindicate our faith that people and their hearts are the same across cultures and horizons," the filmmakers said in a statement.

Other special awards presented by the festival, now in its eighth year and backed by the Bagri Foundation, included three Sunmark ICON Awards for South Asian directors who have made a global contribution to cinema – Adoor Gopalakrishnan from Kerala, Ashutosh Gowariker from Mumbai and documentary filmmaker Pratibha Parmar from London.

"It is wonderful that the festival continues to lead the debate and not simply reflect the changing shape of Indian cinema; from this year's Indian virtual reality showcases to bringing carefully curated important new talent to the world stage like actress Anjali Patil to showcasing emerging young directors like Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, director of closing night film 'Sexy Durga'," said festival executive and programming director Cary Rajinder Sawhney.

LIFF's annual Satyajit Ray Short Film Award went to the film "Papa", directed by Siddharth Chauhan. "I was fighting depression and trying to win over myself in many ways, when I decided to take the challenge of making this film.

"I didn't have a single penny and no professional assistance, but with a deep prayer in my heart and with the support of my friends in Shimla, we begged, borrowed and did everything we could, to make this film in the best possible way. It wasn't easy for us, but I guess all the effort was worth it," Chauhan said.

The festival this year coincides with the UK India Year of Culture celebrations in London and plugs into the British Film Institute's (BFI) ongoing "India on Film" series.

"India has one of the world's richest and most prolific film industries. Throughout 2017, we celebrate the diversity of Indian filmmaking and films about India, from Bollywood to Tollywood (home of Telugu and Bengali cinema) – in cinemas and online," said Robin Baker, BFI Head Curator.

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saleem
 - 
Wednesday, 5 Jul 2017

Muttu,

Spill blood of whom ur swamiji?

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Agencies
August 3,2020

Patna, Aug 3: Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey on Sunday charged that Vinay Tiwari, the IPS officer from Patna who is in Mumbai to probe a case related to Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death, has been "forcibly quarantined" by civic authorities in the metropolis.

Tiwari is heading a Bihar Police team which is in Mumbai to investigate an ''abetment to suicide'' case on the basis of a complaint filed by the late actor's father in Patna.

"IPS officer Vinay Tiwari reached Mumbai today from Patna on official duty to lead the police team there but he has been forcibly quarantined by BMC officials at 11 PM today," Bihar Director General of Police (DGP) Pandey tweeted.

"He was not provided accommodation in the IPS mess, despite request, and was staying in a Guest House in Goregaon," he said.

Sushant's sister Shweta Singh Kirti has tweeted, " What? Is this even for real? How can an officer sent on duty be quarantined for 14 Days?".

Rajput, 34, was found hanging from the ceiling of his Bandra residence on June 24 last.

Last month, Rajput's father lodged an FIR here of abetment to suicide naming actress Rhea Chakraborty, said to be close to the deceased Patna-born actor, and her family members as accused. Tiwari was posted as the City SP (East) in Patna.

The Mumbai Police, which is also probing the death case, have so far recorded statements of nearly 40 people, including those from Rajput's family, his cook and people from the film industry that include filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali and filmmaker Aditya Chopra.

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News Network
June 9,2020

Mumbai, Jun 9: Actor Sonu Sood, who has been arranging transport for migrant workers stranded in Mumbai and has faced criticism from the Shiv Sena for "enacting a political script written by BJP", was stopped outside the Bandra Terminus in Mumbai by police from meeting labourers.

A Mumbai Police official said the actor was stopped by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) when he reached the station on Monday night to meet some labourers, and added that they have not received any complaint so far in this connection.

The migrant labourers were supposed to take the Shramik Special train from Bandra Terminus to Uttar Pradesh.

Mumbai's Nirmal Nagar police station's senior inspector Shashikant Bhandare told news agency PTI that "The actor was stopped by the RPF, not by us. He wanted to meet labourers who were going to their native place. We have not received any complaint regarding this till now."

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday wondered whether the BJP propped up Sonu Sood to "offer help" to migrant workers from north India stranded in Maharashtra amidst the lockdown, with the political motive to show the Uddhav Thackeray government in poor light.

In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in Shiv Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Sanjay Raut questioned the sudden rise of "Mahatma" Sood on the social scene of Maharashtra during the lockdown.

Mr Raut also referred to an alleged "sting operation" against Sonu Sood ahead of the 2019 general elections, saying he had agreed to promote the BJP-led government at various platforms through his official social media accounts.

However, later that day Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray lauded Sonu Sood's initiative to arrange buses for stranded migrant workers.

The actor met Uddhav Thackeray at the latter's residence 'Matoshree' in suburban Bandra on Sunday night.

On Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh backed Sonu Sood for his work for stranded migrant workers, and questioned the Maharashtra government's criticism of the actor.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Mumbai, Jan 18: Actor Shabana Azmi was injured in an accident on Saturday afternoon on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in Maharashtra's Raigad district, an official said.

The incident took place around 3.30 pm near Khalapur, over 60 km from Mumbai, when the car in which she was traveling rammed into a truck, said Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar.

She was rushed to MGM hospital in Navi Mumbai and was undergoing treatment, he said.

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