Philanthropy, Bollywood Honoured at IFFA

It was 26th September when many acclaimed directors of India and television stars gathered in Houston for the much awaited Annual Indian Film Festival at Houston. The excited guests at this grand ceremony held at the Royal Oaks Country Club were clad in best of Indian attire. They got the chance of being entertained by the interesting eclectic sounds of Moodafaruka.


Vikramaditya Motwane , the famous director won Best Feature for UDAAN. Also Dilip Mehta, another name in the list of famous directors, won the Special Recognition Award for Cooking with Stella. The Indian Film Festival Awards at Houstan awarded its first Philantrophy Award to Dr. Carolyn Farb. Also present at this ceremony was Iqbal Khan, the famous Indian TV star and the heartthrob of many Indian girls. He got the award called the Master of Ceremonies. The award night marked the end of the 5-day festival which was celebrating the Indian talent and culture.

At the Indian Film Festival Awards at Houstan, Iqbal Khan was present with his wife. This actor is famous for his role of "Angad Khanna" in the serial titled Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai. He also gained a lot of fame for playing the character of "Shaurya" in Kavyanjali and "Raghu" for Kahiin To Hoga. He also appeared in the Ekta Kapoor’s serial Karam Apnaa Apnaa. He has also appeared in the movie Fun2shh which also starred Paresh Rawal, Farida Jalal etc.

Peepli Live – India’s official entry for Academy Awards

Hope, this time we will get it! Yes, we are talking about the famous Academy Awards which are better known as the Oscar Awards. So which is the lucky Indian movie, this year, to get an entry into these renowned awards. Well…it’s the comedy sattire titled “Peepli Live”. Peepli Live has made it possible for Aamir Khan to score a hat trick for his movies as nominees in the Oscars Awards.

Aamir Khan’s Peepli Live has been selected as our country’s official entry for the Oscar Awards in the category of Best Foreign Language film. Two other earlier movie of Aamir which were selected for the similar categories in the similar awards in the past are Lagaan and Taare Zameen Par. L Suresh, chairperson of Film Federation of India commented that they selected Peepli Live for its strong and true portrayal of the Indian farmers and the vibrant striking and impressive depiction of the journalism and media in our country.

This time there were more than 25v movies which were running for this nomination. Even Peepli Live was in close competition with Angadi Theru, a Tamil film. But finally it was Peepli Live which was selected for the category.

Manoj Kumar to receive lifetime achievement award

Manoj Kumar who is popularly known as “Bharat Kumar” in the Indian film industry and among the Indian audiences is called so because he has acted in a lot of patriotic movies. He has not only been an actor in these movies but he has also directed and produced some of them to show his immense feeling of patriotism to others.


The veteran actor, producer and director is now going to enjoy one more precious moment of his life. He will be conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Manoj Kumar has been there in the world of Hindi Cinema since last three decades. He has worked in various movies like Purab Aur Paschim, Kranti,Upkar etc. The actor has also participated actively in movies like Sanyasi , Kapda Aur Makaan, Dus Numbri etc. Before taking a retirement from movies, he did the movie titled as “Maidan-E-Jung”. This movie was released in the year 1995. Now the actor is going to be honoured with an award at MAMI.

Manoj Kumar will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th Mumbai Film Festival. The actor commented that he is happy to get that award because it is as valuable as an Oscar award. The talented 73-year-old actor will receive this honour at the festival that will be organised by MAMI (Mumbai Academy of Moving Image). This event will be held between Oct 21-28. The actor has earlier received Padma Shri and Phalke Ratna Award by the Dadasaheb Phalke Academy.

RajKumar Hirani, Vinod Chopra’s hat-trick with 3 Idiots

During the 57th National Film Awards for the year 2009, the movie 3 Idiots was declared as the most popular film for providing the complete entertainment. Everybody related to the team of 3 Idiots was very much happy when the movie’s name was announced for the award.


Among the most happy ones were the director and producer of 3 Idiots who stated that it was indeed a proud moment for all of them. The reason why Rajkumar Hirani – director of 3 Idiots and Vinod Chopra – producer of 3 Idiots were especially happy during this occasion of National Film Awards was that it was their third national honour, a hat-trick, as director and producer. In the past, their movies like Lage Raho Munna Bhai and Munnabhai M.B.B.S. had bagged the national awards.

Vinod Chopra was quoted saying that he was away for some pre-production work for his upcoming movie and when he got back, he heard this news and an overwhelming, welcoming response from the people. The famous producer further added that it was an honourable moment for their production house too. He also thanked the entire team of 3 Idiots for their hard work, dedication and support for the movie.

4 National Film Awards for Paa, a morale booster for AB Corp.

The National Film Awards for the year 2009 were announced few days back. This time the Bachchans were lucky to bag several awards. AB Corporation’s movie “Paa”won four National Awards. Amitabh Bachchan who was quite happy with this achievement of the corporation was quoted saying that the 4 National Awards bagged by Paa have acted like a morale booster for AB Corp that has gone through bad times.


Amitabh also said that these awards have been godsend for AB Corp. and people from AB Corp are really, really happy for a company that has been through some terrible times. Not only the movie Paa won the National Film Awards but also the 67 year old actor Amitabh Bachchan won his fourth National Film Award this year. Earlier, the actor had won National Awards for the movies Saat Hindustani, Agneepath and Black.

The four National Film Awards 2009 won by “Paa” include those of the best actor (Amitabh Bachchan), best supporting actress (Arundhati Naag), best Hindi film and best make-up (Christein Tinsley

57th National Awards 2009 - The complete info'

The 57th National Awards for the year 2009 were announced on the evening of September 15, 2010. The occasion was marked by the presence of many celebrities all across India. Amitabh Bachchan has been specially lucky to bag his fourth National Award this time. The complete list of these awards has been given below.

BEST FEATURE FILM

Kutty Srank (Malayalam)

Producer: Reliance Big Pictures

Director:Shaji N. Karun

Swarna Kamal

INDIRA GANDHI AWARD FOR BEST DEBUT FILM OF A DIRECTOR

Lahore (Hindi)

Producer: Vivek Khatkar

Director :Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan

Swarna Kamal

AWARD FOR BEST POPULAR FILM

3 Idiots (Hindi)

Producer:Vidhu Vinod ChopraKaminey (Hindi)

Director :Raj Kumar Hirani

Swarna Kamal

NARGIS DUTT AWARD FOR BEST FEATURE FILM ON NATIONAL INTEGRATION

Delhi 6 (Hindi)

Producer: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Director : Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Rajat Kamal

BEST FILM ON SOCIAL ISSUES

Well Done Abba (Hindi)

Producer: Reliance Big Pictures

Director : Shyam Benegal

Rajat Kamal

BEST CHILDREN’S FILM

Putaani Party (Kannada) & Keshu (Malayalam)

Producer: Children’s Film Society, India (for both films)

Director : Ramchandra P.N. (Putaani Party) & Sivan (Keshu)

Swarna Kamal

BEST DIRECTION

Abohoman (Bengali)

Rituparno Ghosh

Swarna Kamal

BEST ACTOR

Paa (Hindi)

Amitabh Bachchan

Rajat Kamal

BEST ACTRESS

Abohoman (Bengali)

Ananya Chatterjee

Rajat Kamal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Lahore (Hindi)

Farooque Sheikh

Rajat Kamal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Paa (Hindi)

Arundhati Naag

Rajat Kamal

BEST CHILD ARTIST

Pasanga (Tamil)

Film Characters Jeeva & Anba Karasu

Rajat Kamal

BEST MALE PLAYBACK SINGER

Mahanager @ Kolkata (Bengali)

Rupam Islam

Rajat Kamal

BEST FEMALE PLAYBACK SINGER

Houseful (Bengali)

Neelanjana Sarkar

Rajat Kamal

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Kutty Srank (Malayalam)

Cameraman : Anjuli Shukla

Laboratory Processing: Adlabs Films Ltd.

Rajat Kamal

BEST SCREENPLAY

Kutty Srank (Malayalam)

Kanasemba Kudureyaneri (Kannada)

Pasanga (Tamil)

Screenplay Writer (Original): P.F. Mathews & Harikrishna

Screenplay Writer (Adapted): Dialogues : Pandiraj

Rajat Kamal

BEST AUDIOGRAPHY

Kaminey (Hindi)

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (Malayalam)

3 Idiots (Hindi)

Location Sound Recordist : Subash Sahoo

Sound Designer : Resool Pookutty

Re-recordist of the final mixed track : Anup Dev

Rajat Kamal

BEST EDITING

Abohomaan (Bengali)

Arghyakamal Mitra

Rajat Kamal

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Delhi 6 (Hindi)

Samir Chanda

Rajat Kamal

BEST COSTUME DESIGNER

Kutty Srank (Malayalam)

Jayakumar

Rajat Kamal

BEST MAKE-UP ARTIST

Paa (Hindi)

Christein Tinsley & Dominie Till

Rajat Kamal

BEST MUSIC DIRECTION

Dev D (Hindi)

Kerala Verma Pazasi Raja

Music Director (Songs) : Amit Trivedi

Music Director (Background Score) : Ilayaraja

Rajat Kamal

BEST LYRICS

3 Idiots (Hindi)

Swanand Kirkire

“Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh……………”

Rajat Kamal

SPECIAL JURY AWARD

Kaminey (Hindi) & Kutty Srank (Malayalam) & Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja (Malayalam)

Sreekar Prasad

Rajat Kamal

Amitabh Bachchan gets National Award for Paa

Bollywood legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan has recently finished his hat-trick by bagging his third Best Actor award at the 57th National Film Awards. The award for the best actress was given to Ananya Chaterjee for 'Aabo Hawa'. These National Awards were declared on September 15, 2010.

Amitabh has won this award for his brilliant performance in the movie Paa. The movie Paa had Amitabh Bachchan in the exclusive role of a 12 years old child who suffered from a rare disorder – progeria. Progeria is the disease in which the person physically grows at a very fast speed and you may say that the patient becomes old at a tender age, though his mental level remains at a normal point. The movie starred Vidya Balan, Abhishek Bachchan and of course Amitabh Bachchan.

Earlier also Amitabh Bachchan has won two National Awards. He was given the National Award for his movie 'Agneepath' . He also bagged the National Awards for 'Hum' which starred Rajnikanth, Govinda and others apart from Big B.

Follow Amitabh Bachchan on twitter.

Ramanaidu gets Dada Saheb Phalke Award

The famous legendary and veteran film producer Dr. D. Ramanaidu from Andhra Pradesh has been conferred the Dada Saheb Phalke Award for the year 2009. This award is given by the Indian govern ent in the field of Indian Cinema for the outstanding contribution.


Under this award a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs.10 lakhs and a shawl is given to the awardee. Dr. Ramanaidu stepped into the film world in 1963. His first film was Anuraga. He has produced more than 130 films in many Indian languages. His name has also been mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records.

The actors who have acted with producer Dr. D. Ramanaidu include N T Rama Rao, A. Nageswara Rao, Sivaji Ganesan, KamalHaasan, Jayaprada, Chiranjeevi, Rajnikanth, Rajesh Khanna, Hema Malini, Rekha, Jeetendra and Sridevi. Also, some of the famous Hindi movies of Ramanaidu include Premanagar, Dildar, Bandish.

Southscope Cine Awards

The Southscope Cine Awards are oraganised by the famous film magazine called South Scope. Now the Southscope Cine Awards 2010 will be held on September 19 at HICC, Hyderabad. The famous Tamil actress Khushboo announced about these awards at a press briefing which was organised on Tuesday.


The actress herself is one of the guests of the event. She has worked in various movies like Thodisi Bewafaii, Laawaris etc. She has acted in more than 100 movies. She is lucky to have worked with several great actors like Rajnikanth, Kamal Hassan etc. The Southscope Cine Awards will be provided in 11 categories. These categories will include best actor, actress, film, director, music director, supporting actor, singer, comedian, lyricist and cinematographer, apart from the best debut and lifetime achievement.

Khushboo said that the nominations include classics of 2009 like Nadodigal, Pasanga, Kanchivaram and Naan Kadavul in the best film category. It is only going to be a matter of choosing the best among these equals. For these Southscope Cine Awards, the audience will be having the opportunity of voting through their mobile phones. The voting will open on September 9. These awards are one of the most awaited awards, especially for the South audience and celebrities. The upcoming award ceremony will be marked with the presence of many leading stars from the South Indian film industry.

Awards and nominations of Rang De Basanti

Rang De Basanti must be a favourite movie of many Indians. The movie was released in 2006. It was written and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The movie starred Aamir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Madhavan, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth Narayan, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni and the British actress Alice Patten in the lead roles.


the movie was made with the budget of Rs. 250 million. The whole movie was alomost shot in and around New Delhi. The movie won a lot of awards. Here is the list for the same.

National Film Award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment

Filmfare Awards (2006) won by rang De Basanti

Filmfare Award for Best Movie

Filmfare Award for Best Director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Filmfare Award for Best Music Director A R Rehman

Critics Best Performance - Male Aamir Khan

Best Editing P. S. Bharathi

Best Cinematography Binod Pradhan

RD Burman Award for New Music (Naresh Iyer) categories.


IIFA Awards (2007) won by Rang De Basanti

IIFA Award for Best Movie,

Best Supporting Actress (Soha Ali Khan),

Best Screenplay (Rensil D'Silva and Rakeysh Mehra)

Some other Awards

Rang De Basanti also won eight awards apiece at the 2006 Global Indian Film Awards and 2007 Star Screen Awards.

The movie also won six awards at the 2007 Zee Cine Awards.

The film was also nominated for the Best Film not in English language at the 2007 British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards.

All woman jury for 12th Mumbai Film Festival

Jane Campion, the Oscar-winning filmmaker will be heading an all-women jury which will also include South Indian actress Suhasini Mani Ratnam at the 12th Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI) international film festival.The other panellists will include Tanya Seghatchian, Samira Makhmalbaf and Yoon Jeong-Hee.


Jane Campion is an Academy Award winne. She is a Hollywood-based filmmaker, screen writer and producer. This talented lady had also shot the movie "Holy Smoke" starring Kate Winslet in India. Srinivasan Narayan. the festival director said that Jane Campion may also conduct a master class.

Suhasini Maniratnam is a National Film Award-winning Indian actress. She is a director and producer also. She is wife of celebrated director, Maniratnam who has directed various movies like Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Yuva etc. The couple runs the production company Madras Talkies. In fact Suhasini is the niece of Tamil film maker and superstar Kamal Hassan. She is also a trained costume designer, cinematographer, hair stylist, and the first female graduate of the Madras Film Institute. Suhasini made her film debut in 1980 with the Tamil film Nenjathai Killathe.