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
March 12,2020

Chennai, Mar 12: Superstar Rajinikanth on Thursday clarified that he never aspired to become the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and said his plans for politics include different heads for his prospective party and a possible government headed by it.

In his first official press conference since December 31, 2017, when he announced to take the political plunge, the veteran star also said he planned to appoint as CM, an educated youth who was compassionate and had self-respect.

With a two-leadership system for party and the government, the former would act as an "opposition" to highlight issues and would not even hesitate to "remove", apparently the head of the government, if it fails to perform, he said.

His prospective party would focus on including a substantial amount of youngsters in the age group of below 45 years while the rest would comprise retired judges and IAS and IPS officials among others.

"I myself would reach out to them and invite them," to join him, the 69-year-old actor said.

Contrary to expectations, he however, did not make a concrete statement on floating his party but called for an "uprising" by youth, after which he would make his formal political entry.

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News Network
March 5,2020

Bihar, Mar 5: A complaint has been filed before a court in Bihar against lyricist Javed Akhtar over his remarks on the FIRs being registered against expelled AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in the wake of Delhi riots.

The complaint was lodged on Wednesday by Amit Kumar, a local advocate, before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Thakur Aman Kumar.

On the basis of a newspaper report, the complainant has alleged that Akhtar's remarks were seditious and promoted religious hatred.

The media report was based on Akhtar's tweet of February 27 that "So many killed, so many injured, so many houses burned, so many shops looted so many people turned destitute but police has sealed only one house and looking for his owner. Incidentally, his name is Tahir. Hats off to the consistency of the Delhi police."

The violence in northeast Delhi claimed at least 42 lives and left over 200 injured. The former Rajya Sabha member was heavily trolled for the tweet.

In a subsequent tweet, Akhtar who asserted that he is a non-believer and a rationalist, had clarified that he was not asking "why Tahir but why ONLY Tahir and not even an FIR against those who have openly threatened violence in the presence of the police".

The matter is likely to come up for hearing on March 25.

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March 5,2020

New Delhi, Mar 5: Urging netizens to adopt traditional salutation styles like 'namaste' and 'salaam' to greet everyone in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, megastar Salman Khan on Thursday shared a picture from his workout session.

Flaunting his perfectly chiselled body, the 'Sultan' actor shared a picture of himself sitting on a pull-down machine with folded hands as a mark of Indian tradition 'namaste'.

"Namashkaar ... hamari sabhyata mein namaste aur salaam hai! Jab #coronavirus Khatam ho jaye tab Haath milao aur gale lago...." he captioned the picture.

Khan recently touched the mark of 30 million followers on Instagram on Saturday and shared a short video on the platform thanking his fans for it.

In the video, he first thanked fans with folded hands and then a salute.

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