Malayalam film sweeps all IFFK awards

December 12, 2015

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 12: Renowned Malayalam director R Jayaraj’s 'Ottal' (The Trap) swept all the top awards, including the Suvarna Chakoram (Golden Crow Pheasant) at the 20th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) which concluded here today.

ottalState Governor Justice (Rtd) P Sathasivam gave away the coveted Suvarna Chakoram, the Best Film of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) jury, the Best Malayalam film of the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) jury and the Audience Poll awards to Jayaraj.

The Suvarna Chakoram consists of Rs 15 lakh cash award, a certificate and a memento.
The citation stated that "Ottal," already a winner of national and state film awards, took the top prize for "its strong cinematic language, interweaving local and planetary concerns, humankind’s relationship to nature and nurture and child human right—all grounded in a deep honest connection to culture and place."

The Rajatha Chakoram for Best Director was awarded to Jun Robles Lana for the Filipino film ‘Shadow Behind the Moon.’ The Rajatha Chakoram for Best Debut Director went to Bangladeshi director Abu Shahed Emon for "Jalal’s Story."

Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s small-budget film, An Off-Day Game, took the FIPRESCI award for Best Malayalam Film. Israeli film Yona won the NETPAC Best Asian film award.

"It is often felt that Kerala is not only God’s Own Country but the favourite foster land of a variety of arts, so it is little wonder that it has produced notable names in filmmaking," Sathasivam said giving away the awards.

"The film festival provides an opportunity for film lovers to see films from around the world and thereby get a feel for lifestyles around the world," he said.

Besides the Governor, the closing ceremony was attended by leader of the Opposition V S Achuthanandan, Minister for Cinema Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, and Secretary (Cultural Affairs) Rani George.

"We have to make a better effort to market Malayalam films internationally," Achuthanandan said adding the government should also implement the recommendations of the Adoor Gopalakrishnan Committee report.

Legendary Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, whose film package was shown in the festival’s Retrospective segment, was honoured with IFFK’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The award carries a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh, a memento and a citation.

Mehrjui presented the Film Employees Federation of Kerala’s (FEFKA) inaugural ‘Master’s award’ to avant garde Malayalam filmmaker K G George.

The Iranian director also presented the prize to the signature film winner Shri Shameer Babu. Tagore theatre, which was introduced this year as the festival’s main hub, won best theatre for its aesthetic quality, while New Theatre Screen 1 won for best technical quality.

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News Network
June 22,2020

New Delhi, Jun 22: Amidst a strain in the ties between India and Nepal, actor Manisha Koirala, a Nepali national, on Monday urged people of both the countries to be not "aggressive and disrespectful" towards each other.

Koirala, a leading Bollywood actor of her times, took to Twitter to request people to let the respective government resolve the issues and stay "civil."

"A heartfelt request please let's not be aggressive and disrespectful..we are in this situation together..our respective Gov's will resolve the issue. In the meantime we can be civil ..I remain hopeful," she tweeted.

Earlier last week, Nepal 's Upper House of Parliament endorsed a proposal to discuss the Constitution amendment bill to update the country's map that incorporates parts of Indian territory.

Nepal's House of Representatives had on June 10 endorsed a proposal seeking consideration of a constitution amendment bill for change of country's map after a lengthy discussion. Nepal has made offers to India to hold "diplomatic talks to resolve the territorial issue" between the two countries.

New Delhi has said that the updated map is "not based on historical facts and evidence" and termed the claims by Nepal as artificial enlargement.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava also said that the move is violative of the current understanding to hold talks on outstanding boundary issues.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

Mumbai, Aug 2: None of the sim cards that actor Sushant Singh Rajput was using was registered under his name, said the team of Bihar Police, probing his death case, on Sunday.

The team also informed that one of the sim cards that the late actor was using was registered the name of his friend Siddharth Pithani.

"We are now tracking the call detail records (CDRs)," the police said.

The team also said that they will interrogate the family of Sushant Singh Rajput's former manager Disha Salian, who died few days before Sushant's death.

"Even after constant attempts to connect with them on phone, we have failed to establish any contact," it said.

Earlier today, while talking to news agency, the Director-General of Police (DGP) of Bihar Gupteshwar Pandey hinted at the non-cooperation of Mumbai police with his team in their investigation.

"We don't have post-mortem report details, CCTV footage or any information that has been collected by Mumbai Police during probe till now. Our Chief Minister has requested the Maharashtra Chief Minister to ask his police force to cooperate with us," the DGP added.

When asked if Bihar Police want CBI probe into the case, he said, "We are more than capable of doing an unbiased investigation. We hope that Mumbai Police will cooperate with us and we'll conclude the investigation."

Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14. Mumbai Police who was investigating the case had earlier informed that they have recorded the statements of 41 people, including filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra so far.

A team of Bihar Police is in Mumbai to probe the actor's death after an FIR was filed by Rajput's father KK Singh against late actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty in Bihar in connection with the death case under several sections including abetment of suicide.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had also registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in Rajput's death case. ED registered the report after an FIR was filed by his father against Chakraborty.

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News Network
April 8,2020

Los Angeles, Apr 8: American folk legend John Prine has passed away due to the coronavirus complications. He was 73.

Prine, whose coronavirus diagnosis was revealed on March 17, died on Tuesday, his publicist told Variety.

His wife and manager, Fiona, had on April 3 posted on Twitter that Prine was severely ill after being admitted into intensive care unit of a hospital.

In a career spanning over half a century, Prine churned out heartfelt and unforgettable songs like Angel From Montgomery, Sweet Revenge and In Spite of Ourselves .

He was regarded as one of the greatest by many of his peers including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Bette Midler and many other music legends.

Born on October 10, 1946 in Maywood, Illinois, the singer-songwritter emerged on the Chicago folk scene in the late 1960s, when he was discovered by country star Kris Kristofferson.

He is still remembered for his 1971 anti-war track Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore , which came at the height of the Vietnam War and is still relevant to many till date.

In recent years, he had taken a step back from music but came back in 2018 with the album The Tree of Forgiveness . It was his first LP in 13 years.

Prine was a winner of two Grammy award for best contemporary folk albums -- The Missing Years (1991) and Fair & Square (2005). He was an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame and also bestowed with Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

The news of his demise sent shockwaves across the music industry, with stars like Bruce Springsteen, Kacey Musgraves, Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler and others paying their tributes to the legend.

Over here on E Street, we are crushed by the loss of John Prine. John and I were "New Dylans" together in the early 70s and he was never anything but the lovliest guy in the world. A true national treasure and a songwriter for the ages. We send our love and prayers to his family, Springsteen wrote in a post on Twitter.

While Musgraves posted, Heartbroken.

Raitt, who recorded Angel from Montgomery in the 1970s, said he is feeling crushed after learning about Prine's demise.

Words can't even come close. I'm crushed by the loss of my dear friend, John. My heart and love go out to Fiona and all the family. For all of us whose hearts are breaking, we will keep singing his songs and holding him near, he wrote.

Midler shared a news link about Prine, saying, He's gone.

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