Lifetime achievement honour for Gulzar

Noted lyricist Gulzar was bestowed with the lifetime achievement honour at a function in Mumbai. Also actress Priyanka Chopra and actor Shahid Kapoor won the Teacher's Achievement Awards.




Priyanka Chopra bagged the award in the entertainment category. She said, “I am thankful to the jury. Whenever I get a prize, I think this would not have been possible without the constant support of my parents.” She dedicated her award to her mother.

Shahid bagged the Teacher's People Magazine Achiever award. He told IANS, “I feel special. It's really a big achievement when such an eminent set of jury has decided to give me the award.”

Said the award presenter, “We are hopeful that each edition of the Teacher's Achievement Awards shall inspire and encourage people from all walks of life to strive for accomplishment that not just add to individual glory but also propel societal growth and well-being.”

National Film Awards for 2007

55th National Film Awards for 2007 were held on October 21, 2009 and the awards were presented by President Pratibha Patil. Biggest names from the Indian cinema presented the trophies for their renowned works.




This year Dada Saheb Phalke Award was conferred upon eminent play back singer Manna Dey. Also veteran director Adoor Gopalakrishnan and actress Uma Shree collected their trophies as National Award winners for 2007.

According to an official release Best Feature Film award was presented to Tamil film 'Kanchivaram' and 'Chak De India' received the award in Wholesome Entertainment Category.

These awards aimed to appreciate excellence and promote unity of the nation. The awards were given in feature film as well as non feature film section. In the feature film section, the awards were given in 31 categories, which included Award for Best Feature Film, Indira Gandhi Award for Best First Film of a director, Award For Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment, Award For Best Direction, Actor, Actress, Editing, Lyrics and Choreography. In the non-feature film section, awards were given in 22 categories like Best Non-Feature Film, Best Biographical/Historical Reconstruction/Compilation Film, Special Jury Award and Best Audiography.

International Film Festival of India 2009

The International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2009 will take off from 23 November and will screen around 200 films from India and abroad.

The IFFI will have a best director and best film award this year, as announced by the Festival director S.M.Khan. The director and the producer of the film both will share the best film award. The winner gets the Golden Peacock award and Rs.40 lakh cash prize. And the best director and winner of the Special Jury Award gets silver peacock and cash prizes of Rs.15 lakh each. So as to promote short films IFFI has initiated awards 'Vasundhara' which is the award for best green documentary and the documentary competition.




It is the most sponsored film festival in the country and it is expected that its 40th edition will bring participation of around 50 countries. Academy award winner Ben Kingsley will be the guest of honour this year.

Best Filmfare Films

Here is the unique list of Best Films at Filmfare Awards actor wise. I thought it would be interesting to take a glance at these top slot movies and to whom they belong. Apparently, they belong to respective stars of last decade or two.This list concludes nothing, just serves
as a reference to stir some thoughts.




1. Aamir Khan ( 7 Movies)

Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1989)
Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1993)
Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1994)
Raja Hindustani (1997)
Lagaan (2002)
Rang De Basanti (2007)
Taare Zameen Par (2008)

2. Shah Rukh Khan (5 movies)

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1996)
Dil To Pagal Hai (1998)
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1999)
Devdas (2003)
Veer-Zaara (2005)

3. Salman Khan (3 Movies)
Maine Pyar Kiya (1990)
Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1995)
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (2000)

4. Hrithik Roshan (3 Movies)
Kaho Naa Pyar Hai (2001)
Koi Mil Gaya (2004)
Jodha Akbar (2009)

The four stars gallop a total of 18 of last 20 Filmfare best film awards, with only Ghayal and Black being the exception. Isn't it a revelation!!!

Priyanka Chopra's in Guinness Book

Priyanka Chopra has just made it to the Guinness book of world records for playing tremendous multi roles in the upcoming Ashutosh Gowarikar's film what's your rashee... Priyanka is touching the heights of the film industry and is the most famous actress of the bollywood today. She feels so proud and honoured while talking about her fantabulous and unbeatable multi roles in the film what's your rashee. The film is full of romance and comedy.




Priyanka is very excited about getting herself to the Guinness book of world records. Thousands of films have been made but no actor or actress has played 12 characters in any film in any language. Priyanka has just not played the roles instead she has given a meaning to each character in the film. An actor is a person who gives life to the character as Priyanka has done in her upcoming film what's your rashee.

Now Let's see will Priyanka really enthrall viewers by her adorable and goegeous looks. Just wait and watch!

11th Mumbai Festival Fest

Veteran actor Shashi Kapoor, who enthralled cinegoers with his performances in blockbusters like “Deewar” and “Namak Halal”, will be honoured with the lifetime achievement award at the 11th edition of the Mumbai Film Festival (MFF) to be held between Oct 29-Nov 5 along with Greek filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos.




Shashi Kapoor, who started his career as a child artist with his brother’s film “Awara”, went on to feature in movies like “Kala Patthar”, “Kabhi Kabhie”, “Shaan” and “Trishul”. He also produced
critically acclaimed movies like “Junoon”, “Kalyug”, “36 Chowringhee Lane”, “Vijeta”, and “Utsav”.

The film festival is an initiative by Reliance Big Entertainment and is being organized by Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI).Renowned filmmaker Shyam Benegal is the chairperson of MAMI and he made these announcements.

This year the MFF will also organise an exhibition to commemorate and celebrate 60 years of evergreen actor Dev Anand’s production house Navketan Films. A retrospective from Navketan will be screened to mark the occasion.

Divided into five sections — International Competition for the First Feature Films of Directors, World Cinema, Indian Showcase, Dimensions Mumbai and Retrospectives, the festival offers something to every film buff.

The festival will have a five member international jury including the likes of celebrated Hollywood scriptwriter-director Paul Schrader, who penned “Taxi Driver” and Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.

MFF carries some of the biggest cash awards.

The movies will be screened at Fun Republic 4 screens multiplex in
Andheri, Mumbai.

Dev Saab felicitated

Legendary actor-filmmaker Dev Anand’s production banner Navketan Films completes 60 years in 2009 and on this occasion the Indian government will be felicitating the evergreen actor. Dev Anand will be felicitated by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni at a function on the 3rd of September in Delhi called ‘Navketan at 60’.




Five of his films from the Navketan banner will be screened over three days which include Guide, Baazi, Taxi Driver, Hum Dono and Jewel Thief. Navketan has been making progressive films since 1949 and next in the offing is a film called Chargesheet . Each of the films whether Guide or Hare Rama Hare Krishna or Jewel Thief have had a cult fan-following and have been legendary. We have made films which look modern even today.

The Navketan Films banner was launched in 1949 by Dev Anand and elder brother Chetan Anand with the film Afsar starring Dev Anand and Suraiya. Legendary actor-filmmaker Dev Anand’s production banner Navketan Films completes 60 years in 2009 and on this occasion the Indian government
will be felicitating the evergreen actor. Dev Anand will be felicitated by Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni at a function on the 3rd of September in Delhi called ‘Navketan at 60’.

Five of his films from the Navketan banner will be screened over three days which include Guide, Baazi, Taxi Driver, Hum Dono and Jewel Thief. Navketan has been making progressive films since 1949 and next in the offing is a film called Chargesheet . Each of the films whether Guide or Hare Rama Hare Krishna or Jewel Thief have had a cult fan-following and have been legendary. We have made films which look modern even today.

The Navketan Films banner was launched in 1949 by Dev Anand and elder brother Chetan Anand with the film Afsar starring Dev Anand and Suraiya.One of the highlights of ‘Navketan at 60’ will be the premiere of the re-worked, coloured version of Dev Anand’s war-drama Hum Dono .

From Best Actor, Best Producer to Lifetime Achievement Awards and even the prestigious Padma Bhushan, Dev Anand has won it all but is still full of energy when it comes to films and filmmaking.He is still making films and his latest attempt is a film called Chargesheet.

One of the highlights of ‘Navketan at 60’ will be the premiere of the re-worked, coloured version of Dev Anand’s war-drama Hum Dono .From Best Actor, Best Producer to Lifetime Achievement Awards and even the prestigious Padma Bhushan, Dev Anand has won it all but is still full of energy when it comes to films and filmmaking.

He is still making films and his latest attempt is a film called Chargesheet.

IIFA Glamorous Actor Award

The IIFA Glamorous actor of the Year Award was chosen by the viewers, and the winners for this award were Preity Zinta in 2006, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Hrithik Roshan in 2007.




The glamorous girl Preity Zinta was selected as the first brand ambassador for GoAir, a new airline service owned by Jeh Wadia from Wadia Group and also walked the ramp for Manish Malhotra's display Fashion Week 2006, along with actress Kajol.

Preity Zinta will be seen in Main Aur Mrs Khanna which is expected to release on October 16, 2009. The actress is also shooting for Har Pall which is directed by Jahnu Barua.

In 2005, Harpers and Queen's list of 10 Most beautiful women in the world ranked Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the 9th spot. The upcoming movies of the actress are Raavan, Action Replay and Guzaarish.

The style icon Hrithik Roshan's upcoming movie titled Kites with Barbara Mori is running under post-production and another film featuring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan Guzaarish will be completed next year.

Farhan wanted an IIFA after Rock On after Filmfare

Rock On! grabbed seven trophies at the recently held Filmfare Awards, director-actor Farhan Akhtar wants to walk away with more awards at the forthcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.




Arjun Rampal, who played an important role in in the film, feels it is a very credible way of involving members of the film industry to nominate the deserving candidates for the awards.

Manmohan Shetty, producer and IIFA advisory board member told that IIFA has grown into an event over the last nine years. Now as it's the 10th year of IIFA, the celebration will be surely bigger.

IIFA Best Lyricist Awards

The IIFA Best Lyricist Award was chosen by the viewers and Javed Akhtar got the IIFA Best Lyricist Award in the year 2008 for Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone starrer Om Shanti Om. In 2009 Javed was bestowed with the same award for the song Jashn-E-Bahara for the film Jodha Akbar.




Than late in the year 2005 Javed Akhtar and Saaed Qadri got the award for Swades and Murder. In 2004 it was again Javed who was honoured with the same award for the song Kal Ho Naa Ho for the film Kal Ho Naa Ho Prasoon Joshi in the year 2007 was awarded the best lyricist award for the film Rang De Basanti.

Going back to the year 2003 Nusrat Badr got the award for the song Dola Re for the film Devdas. Two more awards were won by Javed Akhtar in the year 2001 and 2002 for the film Refugee and lastly in the year 2000 Anand Bakshi got it for the movie Taal for the song Ishq Bina.

Best Directors at IIFA Awards

The IIFA Best Director Award stands as a prestigious one in the popular category and is chosen by the viewers and the winner is announced at the ceremony. The nominations for the category are given by the film fraternity.

So here we enlist the best of the lot in the last ten years.


2009 Ashutosh Gowarikar Jodhaa Akbar
2000 Sanjay Leela Bhansali Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam 2001 Rakesh Roshan Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai 2002 Ashutosh Gowarikar Lagaan 2003 Sanjay Leela Bhansali Devdas 2004 Rakesh Roshan Koi Mil Gaya 2005 Yash Chopra Veer-Zaara 2006 Sanjay Leela Bhansali Black 2007 Rajkumar Hirani Lage Raho Munna Bhai 2008 Shimit Amin Chak De India
The directors mentioned above are so talented that they have carved a niche in the field of film-making as they are mentioned here above as IIFA Awards winners.

Best Movies at IIFA Awards

The IIFA Best Movie Award is chosen through a worldwide poll and the
winner is announced at the ceremony.

The winners over the last ten years at IIFA Awards.

2000 Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam Sanjay Leela Bhansali 2001 Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai Rakesh Roshan 2002 Lagaan Aamir Khan 2003 Devdas Bharat Shah 2004 Kal Ho Naa Ho Yash Johar 2005 Veer-Zaara Yash Chopra 2006 Black Sanjay Leela Bhansali 2007 Rang De Basanti Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra 2008 Chak De India Yash Chopra 2009 Jodha Akbar Ashutosh Gowariker

Every movie mentioned above is a classic in itself and will remain
etched very dearly in audiences hearts.

Filmfare Awards Best Film Ever - Black

An Indian English directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali titled "Black" revolves around a blind, deaf and mute girl, and her relationship with her teacher who himself later suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The first half of the film is an adaptation of Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life.

The film was screened at the Casablanca Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and eleven Filmfare Awards. Times Magazine (Europe) selected the film as one of the 10 Best Movies of the Year 2005 from across the globe. The movie was positioned at number five. Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the Top 25 Must See Bollywood Films.


Filmfare Awards that went to Black in the year 2005-

* Best Director - Sanjay Leela Bhansali * Best Actor - Amitabh Bachchan * Best Actress - Rani Mukerji * Critics Award Best Movie - Sanjay Leela Bhansali * Critics Award Best Performance - Amitabh Bachchan & Rani Mukerji (each) * Best Supporting Actress - Ayesha Kapur * Best Editing - Bela Sehgal * Best Cinematography - Ravi K. Chandran * Best Background Score - Monty Sharma

Delhi 6 may be Oscar Entry this year

Delhi-6 might be the only film in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Award category of the Academy Awards.

Apparently as Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is so far the only film-maker who has recommended his film to Indian Motion Pictures Producers Association to be sent to the Film Federation of India for sending it as India's entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category.




The scarcity in the entries is largely being credited to the strike because of which very few movies saw a theatrical release. While the last date of submission is September 15, so far only Delhi-6 is the only film in the race so far.

Mandatory conditions for Oscar Entry in this category-
For a recommendation for the Oscars this year, a film should have been released or should be releasing between October 1, 2008 and September 30, 2009 and should have run for seven consecutive days at least.

Further no type of television or internet transmission of the film should have occurred at any time prior to the theatrical release. And the recording of the original dialogue track as well as the completed picture must be predominantly in a language or languages other than English.

IIFA Awards most popular now

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Over the span of ten years, IIFA Awards, International Indian Film Academy Awards are hosted annually for excellence in Indian cinema at an exciting international venue. Over the last ten years, the IIFAs have become India’s most prestigious film awards in taking Indian cinema to a global audience.

This year 2009, they were held in Macau, China.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the IIFA Awards and it’s also the year when Indian cinema and Indian film professionals have arrived on the world stage. Indians have won Oscar and British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) as numerous of global awards this year. Thanks to path breaking filmmakers like Danny Boyle and Megan Mylan.

The IIFA Awards are fast on their way to becoming the Oscar of Indian cinema.

Germany's Indian Film Festival Has Fewer Participants

Germany's only Indian film festival has been scaled down since numerous sponsors had pulled out due to economic recession. The number of entries has dropped to 47 from 56 last year and will be shown at a venue on the outskirts of Stuttgart instead of in the city centre as in previous years.

The 6 day festival opens Tuesday with the German premiere of Zoya Akhtar's comedy Luck By Chance, which takes a peek behind the scenes of the glamourous world of Bollywood.

Feature films, shorts and documentaries from all over India will be shown at the event, organised by the Film Bureau of the southern German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. In addition to Delhi 6 and Billu Barber. Dance performances, concerts and lectures are also part of the festival. Some of the films just show the wide spectrum of Indian Cinema.

A series of prizes will be awarded, among them the German Star of India, which will be worth 4,000 euros.

Why Big B did not Performed at IIFA 2009?

There is news going around in industry circles regarding Amitabh Bachchan’s non-performance on the Aladdin song at the recently concluded IIFA awards 2009.

Riteish Deshmukh along with newcomer Jacqueline Fernandes was to perform with the Big B. But when the award function was held, there was no sign of the Bachchan. One and all present were left wondering what must have gone wrong.


The reason behind it was later made clear that Aladdin’s director, Sujoy Ghosh had signed a deal with IIFA without informing Amitabh
Bachchan about his performance for the promotion of his forthcoming Aladdin at the awards.

So when Big B was informed about the same only 15 days before the award function, he immediately summoned Sujoy Ghosh and asked why he didn’t inform him early that he would get sufficient time for the rehearsals. He skipped the performance because of less time and his
involvement with IIFA.

The Aladin also stars Sanjay Dutt, Supriya Pathak and Saahil Khan and has been scheduled for a August 14th release date.

Akshay Khanna's Strange Behaviour at IIFA 2009

Akshaye Khanna was in attendance at a recently concluded international awards to promote his coming film ShortKut The Con Is On but he was missing for all the events related to the film.

That's not all. He was present at the award ceremony but didn't go up on the stage to collect the award when his name was announced (For Race in the Best Actor in A Negative Role category).

Khanna's behaviour was rather strange. He has been to award shows abroad earlier but never has he acted like this. He not only neglected the promotional event for his upcoming film but also failed to pick up an award the next night at the awards ceremony.

Anil Kapoor, the producer of ShortKut specially flew down from the States where he is shooting for the American television show 24, to unveil the first promo of the film at the function. The organisers flew in Amrita Rao, Arshad Warsi and other cast members of the film.

But when the time came to promote the film, the Indian and international press kept waiting for Khanna, who went MIA for no apparent reason.
Anil Kapoor picked up his award instead. It was later discovered that he had already left the building.

The Winners for the IDEA IIFA Awards 2009

The tenth year of IIFA surpassed all expectations with a spectacular show that saw epic movie Jodhaa Akbar bag most of the top Awards. The film won the coveted Best Picture Award, while Ashutosh Gowarikar won the award for Best Director and Hrithik Roshan for Best Actor for Jodhaa Akbar.

Priyanka Chopra won the Award for Best Actress for her much acclaimed role in Fashion, while her co-star Kangana Ranawat won the Award for her performance as supporting female actor. Arjun Rampal came out victorious for Best Male performance in a supporting role for Rock On. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by IIFA Brand Ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan to Rajesh Khanna, who received a standing ovation from the packed arena.

Abhishek Bachchan won the Award for best performance in a comic role for his hilarious character in Dostana, while Akshaye Khanna won for Best performance in a negative role for Race. Neeraj Pandey’s powerful film, A Wednesday won the Award for Best Story.

The Male Star of the Decade went to Shah Rukh Khan, while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won in the female category. Movie of the decade went to Lagaan, with Rakesh Roshan winning Director of the decade and the talented AR Rahman won the award for Music of the decade. The star debut of the year was awarded to Asin and Farhan Akhtar.

Other than this AR Rahman won the Best Background Score Award for the flick Jodhaa Akbar. Mano Rishil won the Best Dialogue award for Oye Lucky, Ballu Saluja got the award for Best Editing for the film Jodhaa Akbar. Best Art Direction award was given to Nitin Chandrakant Desai again for Jodhaa Akbar. Best Costume Award was given to Neeta Lulla for Jodhaa Akbar, Madhav Kadam got the award for Best Make-Up for the film Jodhaa Akbar. Best Picture award was given to Jodhaa Akbar. Neerai Pandey won the Best Screenplay award for A Wednesday Short and Sweet. Best Playback Singer (female) award was given to Shreya Ghoshal for Teri Ore for the movie Singh Is King and Best Playback Singer (Male) award was given to Javed Ali was the song Jashan-e-Baharaa from the film Jodhaa Akbar.

The list is quiet long guys. IIFA Awards was the biggest celebration of Indian Cinema !!

IIFA 2009 Who's there and Who's not?

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

For the IIFA 2009 awards in China that are still a month away are raging with controversies. Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar is outraged that although he has been nominated in the best-director category, his film, Fashion, didn’t make the best movie shortlist.

And alike SRK, Salman Khan has also reportedly backed out of the famous IIFA Awards 2009 in Macao.

Just like the last year, this time as well, the event is expected to be Bachchans bastion.

Loosing some of the star power last year itself, IIFA 2009 after the withdrawal of Salman Khan could give a huge setback to organizers of this event.

This is because Salman Khan was supposed to perform at the awards night and also promote his upcoming flick ‘Wanted Dead And Alive’, stepped out at the last minute.

Salman had missed this event last year as well supposedly because Katrina Kaif had performed with Akshay Kumar.