IIFA 2015's top honours: Kangana and Shahid win best actress/actor awards

June 8, 2015

Kuala Lumpur, Jun 8: Vikas Bahl's coming-of-age drama Queen and Vishal Bhardwaj's insurgency movie Haider, an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, on Sunday scooped the major trophies at the 16th IIFA awards, including the best actress honour for Kangana Ranaut and the best actor gong for Shahid Kapoor.

Shahid KapoorQueen, a middle class girl's self-discovery journey after getting ditched by her fiance, and the Shahid-Shraddha Kapoor starrer Kashmir-set drama took home three honours each.

Shahid, 34, dedicated his award to Vishal for giving him the opportunity and called the film a "scary" one.

"I would like to thank Vishal Bhardwaj for this recognition. A very big thank you to him for believing in me.

"Today, I am standing here because of him. It was a scary film to do because we thought people will never love and understand this film," said the actor, who gave a power-packed performance on the songs of Haider, in his acceptance speech.

Tabu's powerful portrayal of Shahid's mother in the film won her the best supporting actress award while Kay Kay Menon's role of a shrewd politician in the same bagged him the trophy for the best actor in a negative role.

Queen, a Phantom films and Viacom pictures co-produced drama set in Amsterdam and Paris, won the award for best picture and story, (Bahl, Chaitally Parmar and Parvez Shaikh) apart from the best actress trophy.

Anurag Kashyap, one of the honchos of Phantom Films, in a surprising gesture, expressed his love for fellow director Rajkumar Hirani, while receiving the best movie trophy for Queen.

"I don't know what to say. I love you Raju sir (Rajkumar Hirani). I don't know how this film happened and it happened somehow. When we started the film we didn't have any money...," he said.

Hirani won the best director gong for Aamir Khan starrer highly acclaimed PK, a satire on godmen, after beating Bahl (Queen), Vishal (Haider), Abhishek Varman (2 States) and Imtiaz Ali (Highway).

"This film fearlessly talked about religion in the country and I want to thank my father and mother for it. Like Subhash Ghai, I also feel a film is incomplete without the help of technicians and actors," Hirani said.

Deepika Padukone, who was nominated in the best actress category for her stint as a dance teacher in multi-starrer film Happy New Year, took home the woman of the year award.

The 29-year-old actress dedicated the honour to all the women across the globe.

"This award is for millions of women," said the Finding Fanny star, who looked gorgeous in a black and maroon saree.

Bollywood's showman Subhash Ghai was honoured with the prestigious award 'Outstanding contribution to Indian cinema'. It was presented to him by his Ram Lakhan stars Jackie Shroff and Anil Kapoor.

"I am going through so many emotions right now. I have so many memories. Over the years one learns, rises and falls.

"This is one of the most wonderful evenings for someone like me, to receive so much love and adulation. I have so many stories to share. I think success and awards are a trap. You achieve these for your past work but then you are expected to keep up that work," he said in his acceptance speech.

Riteish Deshmukh-starrer Ek Villain too won three gongs.

The father of one took home the best supporting role for portraying a cold-blooded serial killer in the film and the Mohit Suri-directed thriller won the best playback singing (male) for Ankit Tiwari (Galliyan) and best lyrics.

It was a big night for Riteish, who was accompanied by wife Genelia, as he was also awarded in a new category introduced this time at IIFA, 'Outstanding contribution to a regional film'. The couple's home production, Marathi film Lai Bhaari, won the honour.

"I dedicate my wins to my newly born son. Last year has been an amazing year for me because I played a negative role for the first time. I am lucky that both my stints as hero and villain in Lai Bhaari and Ek Villain were appreciated," Riteish said.

Alia Bhatt-Arjun Kapoor starrer 2 States, which lead the nominations with nine nods, settled with only one award in the best music direction category. Alia's another film Highway and Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika starrer heist drama Happy New Year came out as the main snubs at the awards despite nominations in key categories.

Heropanti stars Tiger Shroff and Kirti Sanon took home the best debut male and female category respectively.

The best debut director gong was shared by Omung Kumar (Mary Kom) and Sajid Nadiadwala for Kick.

Omung thanked Olmypian boxer Mary Kom for her help in making her biopic, which starred actress Priyanka Chopra in the titular role.

"This is the last award of the season and I never expected that the set which I design will ever climb the stairs to receive an award. Thanks Mary Kom for letting us make a film on you," Omung said, who is also a set designer.

Varun Dhawan won the best actor in a comic role award for his stint as a casanova in his father David Dhawan directed Main Tera Hero. David received the trophy on Varun's behalf owing to the actor's absence from the ceremony.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New York, Aug 4: National Award-winning documentary "Son Rise" and Geetu Mohandas-directed "Moothon" were among the films that took home the big honours at the 20th New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF), which switched to a virtual edition this year amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 45 feature-length narratives, shorts and documentaries from the Indian subcontinent were showcased at the festival’s virtual edition that ran for 10 days beginning July 24.

The films programmed were in various languages including Assamese, Bengali, Haryanvi, Hindi, English, Ladakhi, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali and Tamil.

The award ceremony for the festival was held virtually Sunday, with the filmmakers, cast, award winners and festival officials joining from across India and the US.

The award for the Best Documentary (Short) went to Saurav Vishnu-directed "Tailing Pond", which highlights the "horrifying effects of uranium extraction on the health of the indigenous population" of Jadugoda, Jharkhand.

"Son Rise" by Vibha Bakshi won the award for Best Documentary (Feature).

The documentary had won the National Award for the Best non-feature film in 2019 and was among the two centrepieces hosted by the festival this year. NYIFF called "Son Rise" “a powerful documentary about patriarchy in Haryana and efforts by a few good men to bring meaningful change in the society.”

The award for Best Short (Narrative) went to Sanat Ganu's "Arabian Nights". The narrative focuses on a child, his imaginary friend and a family that attends a conference where the attendees believe the earth is flat.

Director and scriptwriter Sudhanshu Saria accepted the award for Best Screenplay for "Knock Knock Knock". Saria’s screenplay “explores the lonely life of a man, an unlikely friendship that may or may not be real.”

Sanjana Dipu won the award for Best Child Actor for "Moothon" for her performance of a teenager in search of a brother.

Garggi Ananthan won the Best Actress award for her role as Kalyani in the film "Run Kalyani" and the Best Actor award went to Malayalam star Nivin Pauly for "Moothon". The award for the Best Director went to 23-year old Achal Mishra for "Gamak Ghar".

"Moothon" won the award for Best Film and its director Mohandas accepted the award for the film, which is "about love and loss that travels from the quiet, lush beaches of Lakshadweep to the mad hustle-bustle of the streets of Mumbai."

Produced by award-winning Indian film director and writer Anurag Kashyap, "Moothon" had premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival.

NYIFF festival director Aseem Chhabra said that the process of searching for films for the festival began last fall and they were ready to showcase them to audiences in New York in April but had to change plans for the festival due to the pandemic.

"I know the best way to enjoy films is in a theatre with the audience and have live interactions, conversations. But the virtual festival is the next best option and in the process, we have been able to reach out to a much larger audience in the US, North America as well in several other countries.”

NYIFF said that a virtual edition expanded the reach of the festival and audiences from 95 countries were able to access and view the films.

Dr Nirmal Mattoo, Chairman of the Indo-American Arts Council, co-founder and owner of Atlantic Dialysis Management services, the largest private dialysis provider in New York State, said NYIFF works with an independent jury - filmmakers, film professors, writers and critics.

Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC), the leading cultural organisation, presents the festival.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the closure of theatres but we believe that in such trying times arts, including films are even more important for the community’s well-being. So, this year we have decided to bring the films directly into your living rooms.” IAAC Vice-Chairman Rakesh Kaul had said.

The New York Indian Film Festival is the oldest Indian film event in North America. Over the years, the festival has held New York premieres of a wide range of films, many of them critically acclaimed, including "Monsoon Wedding", "The Namesake", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Shahid", "Dum Laga Ke Haisha" and "Gangs of Wasseypur". 

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News Network
January 15,2020

Chennai, Jan 15: Superstar Rajinikanth on Tuesday called for neutrality in journalism and urged media outlets to report the truth.

Addressing an event organised by Tamil magazine ''Thuglak' in Chennai, the superstar-turned-politician said that the country needs a journalist like the late Cho S Ramaswamy, who helmed the publication for decades.

"The times, politics and society are going bad. In such a scenario, the media had a huge responsibility towards the people," he said.

Some television channels are biased towards political parties, Rajinikanth said. He added that media, critics and journalists must report the truth impartially.

Comparing true news to milk and fake reportage to water, Rajinikanth said people will not be able to distinguish between the two if they are mixed.

"Only journalists need to tell which portion is milk and which is water...write the truth and don't make a lie seem like truth," he said, amid applause.

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News Network
April 21,2020

Mumbai, Apr 21: While the whole country continues to struggle against the COVID-19 crisis, filmmaker Rohit Shetty's name has been added to the list of renowned personalities who have come forward to give the frontline workers a boost to help them in their battle against the deadly infection.

Rohit Shetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for the on-duty corona warriors to rest, shower and change with arrangements for breakfast and dinner. The Mumbai Police thanked Shetty for this kind gesture in keeping Mumbai safe and tweeted," #RohitShetty has facilitated eight hotels across the city for our on-duty #CovidWarriors to rest, shower & change with arrangements for breakfast & dinner. We thank him for this kind gesture and for helping us in #TakingOnCorona and keeping Mumbai safe."

Meanwhile, scores of celebrities have stepped forward in the fight against coronavirus by supporting different initiatives to help the ones going through the difficult situation due to coronavirus outbreak.

India's count of positive coronavirus cases reached 18,985 after 1,329 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday.
Out of the total cases, 15,122 are active cases, 3,259 have been cured and discharged and one has migrated. With 44 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the toll stands at 603.

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