Irrfan bags best actor trophy at Dubai film fest

December 15, 2013

Dubai_film_festDubai, Dec 15: Acclaimed Indian actor Irrfan Khan won the best actor award for his brilliant performance in "The Lunchbox" at the 10th edition of Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

Irrfan won the award Friday in the Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature category, while films writer-director Ritesh Batra got a special mention for screenplay for the film about a lunch box, which becomes a symbol of hope, in the same category. World renowned Indian filmmaker Shekhar Kapur headed the jury.

Sandeep Ray won the best director award for his Bengali language film "Shirno Bahu (Thin Arms)", which revolves around an octogenarian woman who undergoes treatment for a debilitating medical condition, in the Muhr Asia Africa shorts category.

DIFF chairman Abdulhamid Juma said that the sense of community this year was palpable.

"After 10 years, we are seeing recurrent visitors, both film professionals and cinema lovers, from the region and beyond. This year we celebrated the gains that have been made in Arab cinema in the past decade, the result of years of work from our team to discover, nurture and promote talent from the Arab world," he added.

"There is a feeling that Arab cinema has 'arrived,' with increasing numbers of Arab films on the world stage, winning awards at the most prestigious festivals, and gaining currency even with audiences who have never visited the region."

The 2013 winners are:

Emirates NBD People's Choice Award:

Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee for American film "Frozen" and Amal Al-Agroobi for "The Brain That Sings" (UAE)

FIPRESCI:

Short: Ahmed Yassin - "Children Of God" (Iraq, UK, Hungary)

Documentary: Zeina Daccache - "Scheherazade's Diary" (Lebanon)

Feature: Mohammed Khan - "Factory Girl" (Egypt, UAE)

Emirates NBD People's Choice Award:

Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee - "Frozen" (US)

Amal Al-Agroobi - "The Brain That Sings" (UAE)

Muhr Emirati:

Special Mention: Mohammad Fikree - "Girl & It" (UAE)

Best Director: Muna Al Ali - "Concealment" (UAE)

Special Jury Prize: Claudia Corbelli and Greg White - "The Neighbour" (UAE)

Best Film: Abdullah Hasan Ahmed and Khalid Al Mahmood - "Don't Leave Me" (UAE)

Muhr AsiaAfrica:

Muhr AsiaAfrica Short:

Special Mention: Cédric Ido "Twaaga" (Burkina Faso, France)

Best Director: Sandeep Ray - "Thin Arms" (India)

Special Jury Prize: Halla Kim - "The Way Back" (South Korea)

Best Film: Askhat Kuchinchirekov "Gas Is Over" (Kazakhstan)

Muhr AsiaAfrica Documentary:

Special Mention: Lynn Lee and James Leong - "Wukan: The Flame Of Democracy" (Singapore)

Best Director: Pin Pin Tan - "To Singapore With Love" (Singapore)

Special Jury Prize: Sara Rastegar - "My Red Shoes" (France)

Best Film: Yoshiko Hashimoto and Shigeki Kinoshita - "The Horses Of Fukushima" (Japan)

Muhr AsiaAfrica Feature:

Special Mention: Souleymane Démé for his role in "Grigris" (France, Chad)

Special Mention: Ritesh Batra for the screenplay of "The Lunchbox" (India)

Best Actress: Yeo Yann Yann - "Ilo Ilo" (Singapore)

Best Actor: Irrfan Khan - "The Lunchbox" (France, Germany, India)

Best Director: Tsai Ming Liang - "Stray Dogs" (Taiwan, France)

Muhr Arab Documentary:

Special Mention: Zeina Daccache - "Scheherazade's Diary" (Lebanon)

Best Director: Salma El Tarzi - "Underground On The Surface" (Egypt)

Special Jury Prize: Diala Kachmar and Carole Abboud,Guardians - "Of Lost Time" (Lebanon, UAE)

Best Film: Karim Amer - "The Square" (US, Egypt)

Special Jury Prize: Sepehr Seifi - "Fish & Cat" (Iran)

Best Film: Ang Hwee Sim, Anthony Chen, Wahyuni A. Hadi,- "Ilo Ilo" (Singapore)

Muhr Arab Short:

Special Mention: Camille Salameh for his role in "Troubled Waters" (Lebanon)

Special Mention: Ahmed Yassin - "Children Of God" (Iraq, UK, Hungary)

Best Director: Ali Cherri - "The Disquiet" (Lebanon, France)

Special Jury Prize: Haider Rashid - "The Deep" (Iraq, Italy)

Best Film: Bavi Yassin, Nore Maatala - "The Lost Voice" (Belgium, Iraq)

Muhr Arab Feature:

Special Mention: Mohammed Amin Benamraoui - "Adios Carmen" (Morocco, Belgium, UAE)

Special Mention: Raouia for her roles in "Rock The Casbah" (Morocco, France) and "Pillow Secrets" (Morocco)

Best Actress: Yasmine Raees - "Factory Girl" (Egypt, UAE)

Best Actor: Hassan Badida - "They Are The Dogs" (Morocco)

Best Director: Hany Abu Assad - "Omar" (Palestine, UAE)

Special Jury Prize: Nabil Ayouch - "They Are The Dogs" (Morocco)

Best Film: Waleed Zuaiter - "Omar" (Palestine, UAE)

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Going down the memory lane, late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's close friend and actor Rhea Chakraborty recalled her memories with the departed actor as Rajput's untimely demise completed one month on Tuesday.

This marks the 'Jalebi' actor's first social media post dedicated to Rajput after his demise.

Chakraborty took to Instagram to post two pictures of herself with the 'Kai Po Che!' actor and complimented the post with a long emotional note.

She began the note by stating how she is "still struggling" to face her emotions and said that she will never come to terms with the actor's demise.

"Still struggling to face my emotions.. an irreparable numbness in my heart. You are the one who made me believe in love, the power of it," she wrote.

"You taught me how a simple mathematical equation can decipher the meaning of life and I promise you that I learnt from you every day. I will never come to terms with you not being here anymore," she added.

Terming Rajput as the "greatest physicist," the 'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' actor then recalled Rajput's passion for astrophysics.

"I know you're in a much more peaceful place now. The moon, the stars, the galaxies would've welcomed "the greatest physicist "with open arms," Chakraborty wrote.

Full of empathy and joy, you could lighten up a shooting star - now, you are one. I will wait for you my shooting star and make a wish to bring you back to me," she added.

Remembering the bond that she shared with him, Rhea wrote, "You were everything a beautiful person could be, the greatest wonder that the world has seen. My words are incapable of expressing the love we have and I guess you truly meant it when you said it is beyond both of us."

"You loved everything with an open heart, and now you've shown me that our love is indeed exponential," she added.

The 28-year-old actor ended the note by stating how she will love Rajput for a "lifetime."

"Be in peace Sushi. 30 days of losing you but a lifetime of loving you....Eternally connected. To infinity and beyond," she wrote.

Chakraborty and Rajput were close friends and were also set to share the screen space in the film 'Happy Anniversary.'

Sushant Singh Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14. The investigation in the case related to Rajput's demise is currently underway for which Chakraborty was also interrogated by Mumbai Police.

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News Network
July 25,2020

Bhubaneswar, Jul 25: The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many people hard, and the latest victim of the pandemic is Bollywood actor Kartika Sahoo from Odisha. With the entertainment industry almost non-functional and most productions on hold, the actor is forced to sell vegetables for a living.

Sahoo, who hails from the from Garadpur block of the Kendrapada district in Odisha, said that he went to Mumbai to try his luck in Bollywood at the age of 17. For many years he worked as a bodyguard to film stars and cricketers such as Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar, among others.

Lady luck shone on him in 2018, and he landed noticeable roles in the action sequences of many movies, he said while speaking with news agency. He also has a fight sequence with Akshay Kumar in his upcoming film 'Sooryavanshi'.

Just before the nationwide lockdown which started on March 22, Sahoo had returned home to Odisha after shooting a fight sequence in Jaipur. Since then, with no work, the actor has been living off his savings to sustain his family. But, after four months of no work, and a medical emergency, a major part of his savings was drained.

To find work, he moved to state capital Bhubaneswar, but to no avail. In the end, Sahoo had to resort to selling vegetables in Rasulgad there.

Sahoo is still hopeful and said that he'll again try his luck in Bollywood once the situation is back to normal, till then he'll struggle, like others, for survival.

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News Network
March 21,2020

Mar 21: The novel coronavirus outbreak in the country may have brought the ever-bustling film industry to a halt but it hasn't stopped Bollywood celebrities from utilising their massive online influence to entertain their followers as well as engage them in fitness, dance and yoga routines.

According to the Health Ministry, the coronavirus cases in India rose to 258 on Saturday after 35 fresh cases were reported in various parts of the country.

As the government encourages more social distancing, people from the film fraternity are finding ways to connect to people and ensure their self-isolation isn't wasted.

On Sunday, actor Shilpa Shetty will hold a special live fitness session across digital platforms for people to follow from home.

"In times like these, it's important to stay fit, active, and healthy. Join me on Sunday, 22nd March at 4:00 pm IST as I go LIVE on Instagram-Facebook-Helo (@theshilpashetty) and on the @ShilpaShettyApp to show you some beneficial and helpful yoga asanas.

"You can watch, learn, and practice it from the comfort of your homes. Remember, staying indoors shouldn't be an excuse for deviating from your fitness routine," the actor wrote in an Instagram post.

Online yoga and fitness programs are picking up steam, with many celebrities pitching in.

On Saturday, actor Tamannah Bhatia went live with Diva Yoga, a studio part of a larger yoga ecosystem called SARVA, where she participated in a one-hour virtual yoga class, to encourage people to pursue their fitness goals.

Malaika Arora, co-founder of the yoga studio, told news agency that as the world fights a public health crisis, "we must do our best to stay calm and safe."

"There is also a need to boost our immunity levels even if it means continuing our workout from home. The live sessions being conducted on the Diva Studios Instagram handle and immunity boosting modules being shared on the SARVA app and website are aimed at this.

"Our instructors will offer guided lessons every day... for everyone’s benefit. I encourage people to join in and be responsible for your own health. When you are fit and healthy, you can help others in a better manner. It is these small steps that will lead to a better outcome," she said.

With everything coming to a standstill, choreographer Terence Lewis has also figured out an alternate avenue to reach out to his students: through online classes.

As of now, those who are not his students do not have the access to it, but Lewis said that's going to change soon.

"In few days, we will be starting online dance tutorials for people who have no access and means to be a part of our institute directly. Since, we do not have any branches, neither do I believe in having one, we directly teach from our original space in Andheri.

"Here we have instructors who have learnt from me and is the only legit institute we have hence, we'll think of doing the online classes as way of engaging with people who are far away from us," Lewis told PTI.

As shootings of movies, TV shows and web series stand suspended till March 31, casting director and actor Abhishek Banerjee is encouraging artistes to send self tapes from their homes.

"We are encouraging that to minimise human to human contact and audition spaces. Some actors are known to us, some unknown. It's very difficult to track anybody's health of you don't know the person. So it's easier to see the self tapes and keep shortlisting them and maybe we will call them again for a proper audition when everything is alright," he said.

The process of recording a self audition, according to the "Stree" actor, isn't easy.

"Full marks and respect for actors who are sending the self tapes because audition process takes a lot of efforts and to do that alone, without any help in isolation, without cues, it's commendable."

Banerjee, who runs Casting Bay, a leading casting studios, along with his friend Anmol Ahuja, said on an average, any big casting office had around 100-150 footfalls everyday, which has now come to a griding halt.

"The minute the government decided, we stopped all auditions too. Everything is on a standstill now. The production houses have asked us to hold on the auditions and projects. The major worry is that many actors will have date issues now. Once everything opens in April, let's see how to tackle that. It'll be a very difficult situation," he added.

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