Winners Honoured at 61st National Film Award Function

May 4, 2014

National-Film-AwardNew Delhi, May 4: President Pranab Mukherjee today gave away trophies to the winners of National Film Awards including the best film for Anand Gandhi's 'Ship of Theseus' and most popular film to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra-directed 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag'.

'Ship of Theseus', a complex and philosophical film about an unusual photographer, a Jain monk and a stock broker, was given the best picture award which carries a Swarna Kamal and a cash prize of Rs. 2,50,000.

Hansal Mehta and Rajkumar Rao were given the award for the best director (Swarna Kamal and Rs. 250,000) and best actor (Rajat Kamal and Rs. 50,000) for their biopic "Shahid" (Hindi) on slain lawyer-activist Shahid Azmi.

"I just tried to tell the story in the best way possible and when your attempts are recognised like this, it feels like a vindication. 'Shahid' was a challenging film and it was made at a time when the country is going through a deep polaristaion and at such times telling stories which address these issues directly is always a challenge," Mehta said.

Rao, who played the slain activist, said "I met Shahid's family and they organised a small party for my win. They were equally happy like the way I am."

Rao shared the best actor trophy with Suraj Venjaramoodu for Malayalam film 'Perariyathavar' which also won the award for being the best film on environment conservation.

Actress Geetanjali Thapa was conferred the best actress trophy for her role in Hindi film 'Liar's Dice'.

'Ship of Theseus's Egyptian actress Aida El-Kashef, who was not present, shared the best supporting actress award with Amruta Subhas for Marathi film 'Astu' while Saurabh Shukla won the best supporting actor for court-room drama 'Jolly LLB' which was also named the best Hindi film.

"I am delighted to win the first national award of my career. National award has its own dignity and place. Unlike other awards, this one is not a commercial award. I didn't even know that my name was sent for it. It came to me as a soothing surprise," Shukla said.

'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', a biopic on athlete Milkha Singh, won the award for the most popular film. The producer and director of the film received a Swarna Kamal and Rs. 2,00,000 each. 'Milkha' also won the best choreography award for Ganesh Acharya.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

Mumbai, Jul 28: Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari has urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to look into the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death and direct the state police to register an FIR in this connection.

Wishing Thackeray on Monday on his birthday, Tiwari, who has acted in Bhojpuri films, pointed out that over 40 days have passed since the death of Rajput, but an FIR is yet to be registered.

"Many happy returns of the Day @CMOMaharashtra Shri Uddhav Ji, on this day I request with folded hands to give justice to Sushant who died 43 days ago, but no FIR has been registered so far. I hope you will help. Please do justice to millions of SSR fans," he tweeted.

Bollywood actor Rajput was found dead at his Mumbai residence on June 14, which the police said was a case of suicide. His death had triggered an outcry from several quarters alleging that the late actor, who hailed from Bihar, was a victim of nepotism in the film industry.

The lawmaker from Northeast Delhi's Lok Sabha seat, who visited the deceased actor's family in Patna last month had then said: "Sushant's father and sister requested me to take up the issue and get him justice. It was really a sentimental moment for me".

Previously, Tiwari had demanded a CBI investigation into the matter

According to the police, statements of 40 people including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra and actor Rhea Chakraborty have been recorded in the investigation so far.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Washington, May 18: Joining hands with the European Commission, actor Leonardo DiCaprio launched the Virunga Fund with seed money of USD 2 million to support Africa's Virunga National Park.

Since Virunga has lost a significant amount of revenue due to COVID shutdown post-March, the fund will be used to support the national park and the communities around, reported Variety.

The fund is aimed at disease prevention efforts, protection of mountain gorilla, and other species.

"I had the great honor of meeting and supporting Virunga's courageous team in their fight against illegal oil drilling in 2013," Variety quoted DiCaprio as saying.

"Virunga urgently needs funds to protect the endangered mountain gorilla population, to provide support to the rangers and the families of rangers who have fallen in the line of duty, and to help deliver essential disease prevention efforts. It's critical that we rally together during this time of incredible crisis," he added.

The 'Titanic' actor had earlier produced a Netflix documentary film 'Virunga' which is based on the national park.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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