The National Film Awards

The National Film Awards is the most important film award ceremony organized in India. Established in late 1954, this is administrated by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.Every year, a national panel that is appointed by the government choose the winning entry, and the award ceremony is organized in New Delhi, where the President of India gives away the awards. This is followed by the investiture of the National Film Festival,
where the award-winning movies are screened for the public. Announced for flicks produced in the previous year worldwide, they hold the division of awarding worth to the best of Indian cinema on the whole, as well as presenting awards for the best movies in each region and language of the country.A list of rules is presented every year in a document of regulation chart known as the National Film Award Regulations. The criteria for eligibility surrounds many norms. Among them, there is a direct requirement for the makers of a movie, and most important the filmmaker, to be Indian nationals.

Films entering the competition should be produced in India, and in case of co-production involving a international country,there are as many as six conditions which should be accomplished in order for the movie to make the grade. According to the terms, in order to be eligible for consideration of the jury, a flick should be most probably certified by the Central Board of Film Certification between January 1 and December 31st. Whether a project is acknowledged a feature film or a non-feature film shall be decided by the Feature Film jury. The eligibility list involve a section of rules and regulations shaping which films shall not by eligible for entry in the competition.

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Power-couple Malaika and Arbaaz at IIFA

Bollywood famous celebrities, including the evergreen hottest couple Malaika Arora Khan and Arbaaz Khan and actress Amisha Patel were invited to walk down the green-carpet earlier to the televised screening of the IIFA ceremony at the Ritz Carlton at the DIFC. Screen rough and tough man Salman Khan’s corrupt police officer image in “Dabangg” created waves worldwide and the movie also won a bunch of awards including best picture at the “Bollywood Oscars for the first time in North America.

The movie directed by Abhinav Kashyap won in the highly essential music categories for best female playback singer, best male playback singer and best music direction, as well as best screenplay.Salman Khan, however, could not make it to Toronto this time as he was busy shooting his next movie “Bodyguard,” a romantic action project with actress Kareena Kapoor. Shahrukh Khan’s return to the IIFA awards show after a gap of seven year absence had previously been put in doubt by a knee injury. SRK had vowed to perform at the IIFA show but in the end his dance steps were quiet paining.

Jermaine Jackson also performed his late brother Michael’s hits with Indian pop singer Sonu Nigam at an IIFA concert on Friday. Actress Anushka Sharma won for best leading female role for the romantic comedy “Band Baaja Baaraat” and the film was the directing debut of Maneesh Sharma.Arjun Rampal and Prachi Desai won awards for best supporting characters in the thriller “Raajneeti” and the gangster film “Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai,” as stated. Ritesh Deshmukh, co-hosted the awards show alongwith Boman Irani.

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The inside story of IIFA

Inplace of red colour, the carpet has been now coloured in green to represent the enviroment. The organizers of the show were time conscious and grumbled up security to help the stars flee inside. Holding fashionable purses or waving or simly stuffing their manicured fingers in their Armani or Sabyasachi or Rajesh Pratap Singh or Vikram Phadnis collection they sizzled and rushed inside .

Inside the roof the performing actors rock the whole stadium. Numbered seats never seemed good. The music of Shanker Ehsaan Loy , Jermaine Jackson , the dancing diva Diya , Shamaik Davar group and the Punjabi bhangra twist gives every individual the inspiration to move and swing, clap and tap their toes.The glamour in full presentation at IIFA .Bollywood filmmaker and producer Karan Johar and actress Anushka Sharma were the main invitees too.

Shahrukh Khan represented the best technical cinematography and art direction awards with a spokesperson from the Bay and amazed the audience by quoting dialogues from his film Don. During the day the people in the downtown core near the Eaton centre had caught a glaze of the King Khan visiting the Mayor Rob Ford.Above all, the gorgeous babe, Mallika Sherawat also performed on some numbers . Bipasha Basu, Neha dhupia, walked the ramp like many others. The bhangra group RDB appealed to all ages and lot of masti was spreaded under one roof.

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SRK rocked IIFA with his dance performance

The real king of Bollywood Shahrukh Khan grab the show at IIFA 2011, organized at the Roger Centre in Toronto on Saturday night, by giving out an exhilarating performance at the event with his injured knee. It is said that Shahrukh Khan left his uncountable fans and critics at the awards function with their eyes wide open with shock, when after performing on the ‘Dabangg’ number, the filmstar left the stage with bleeding knees.

Before I forget to mention, an observer at the event a person told that it was a creepy picture that came infront of all present at the event. The organizers had tailored SRK’s dancing steps in keeping with his injury. But Shahrukh completely overlooked the boundaries forced by his injury and started dancing like a crazy man. But soon after the performance was completed he just drooped out.Ace choreographer Shiamak Davar and his team had choreographed painless dance steps for the superstar. However, SRK performed enthusiastically at the IIFA, not putting much attention of easy and tough dance steps and enthralled the crowd at the event.

Shiamak also said that Shahrukh danced through his pain like a perfect dancer as if nothing had happened to him. Though he was in great pain. Ever since there have been news that Salman Khan and the Bachchans won’t be attending IIFA 2011, assumptions have been lifted that these bigwigs gave the event a miss because of Shahrukh’s presence.However, Shahrukh putting rest at the gossips mentioned that he actually don't understand what media wanted to ask. The actor also said that together they all have been under one crown several times and are always proud of all the award functions,

especially IIFA being the finest, globally and whenever they are invited, they happily attend the function. Raising question about why SRK didn’t turn up to the IIFA for past seven years, he candidly said that he knows a lot of people gossiping that why he didn’t attend IIFA for so many years, the star stated that there were no personal grudges about this issue rather he could’nt make it to IIFA just to spend enough time with his children.Well, we think that stars like SRK make IIFA an unforgettable night. The star will be starred in Ra. One with co-star Kareena Kapoor.

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Hilary Swank rocked IIFA 2011

The most famous Hollywood actress Hilary Swank was present at the 2011 International Indian Film Academy Awards, organized at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada on June 25. As reported, Hilary Swank sizzled the Bollywood event, donning a red overstated sleeveless gown from Elie Saab Spring 2011 Couture collection. Hilary Swank’s gown was backless and fully embroidered that showcased her slim figure and overwhelming height.

Hilary as revealed carried an inflated clutch too by Judith Leiber and astounded at event. ‘Million Dollar Baby’ gorgeous diva luminously her presence with sparkling red carpet jewelry. The actress wore a pair of luxury diamond crusted drop earrings, a bracelet and a statement ring. According to the sources, she styled her hair in a different and complicated bun with side-swept bangs. The list of gaze doesn’t end over here,

she selected for fresh face makeup, impressive eyes that grabbed everyone’s attention.Hilary was accompanied by Slumdog Millionaire fame, Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor who was dressed up in a stylish designer black suit that well introduced his personality.Hilary Swank presented the ‘Best Leading Male’ award to Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan for his outstanding performance in Karan Johar’s “My name is Khan” that also starred Kajol in the lead role.

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Dabbang emerged as the winner at IIFA

Salman Khan starrer "Dabangg", which was 2010’s biggest Bollywood success, was considered as the best movie at the sizzling 12th International Indian Film Academy awards held in Toronto. The action-comedy genre received seven awards. Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan was named the best male actor for his performance as an asperger patient in Karan Johar's "My Name Is Khan", while Anushka Sharma bagged the best female actress award for her energetic performance of a wedding planner in "Band Baaja Baraat".

Paying tributes to Yash Johar, whose seventh death anniversary falls Sunday, SRK said that he’s honored that he could receive this award on this day. SRK also said that he have received so much love that he felt as if he belongs to Toronto. KaranJohar, who got the best filmmaker award for "My Name Is Khan" and said that this is his first IIFA award. On the whole, “Dabangg" got seven awards, including best female debut for Sonakshi Sinha too.

RanvirSingh won the award for best debut male award for "Band Baaja Baaraat". The award for male supporting role went to Arjun Rampal for playing a politician in the political thriller "Raajneeti" that also starred Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. PrachiDesai won the trophy for female supporting role for her performace in "Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai". Whereas, MamtaSharma won the award for best female playback singer for her song "Munni Badnaam hui" from "Dabanng".

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Regional cinema is also getting famous

Bollywood may be interesting word for the Indian Film industry, but different themes and corporate funding are signing a rebirth for regional cinema. The Mumbai film industry is a face of commercial Indian cinema, but films in other languages like Marathi, Punjabi and Bengali are also increasing there audience with the improvement in the themes.


Mahesh Manjerekar, has made Marathi movie about the plight of mill worker in Mumbai, it is a bit part of movie Slumdog Millionare.

Corporate studios like Eros Internatgional and Anil Ambani’s Reliance Big Pictures are looking to capture South India films, which is getting popularity like Bollywood industry these days.

This year Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category was Marathi film ‘Harishchandrachi Factory". This movie was done by UTV Motion pictures, it is one of the biggest production house in India.

Nominations for APSA

Four Indian films have been nominated in different categories for Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be held on 26 November at Australia's Gold Coast. The four films are Dev D, A Wednesday, Tahaan and Mumbai Meri Jaan.



Director of movie Dev D, Anurag Kashyap has been nominated in the best director category for his take on Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel Devdas. For the screenplay of Mumbai Meri Jaan, Yogesh Vinayak Joshi and Upendra Sidhaye have been nominated. Tahaan is nominated in the Best Children's Film: Shripal Morakhia and Mubina Rattonsey category. The actor Naseeruddin Shah is nominated for the best actor award for his film A Wednesday.

APSA is collaboration between CNN International, UNESCO and FIAPF International Federation of Film Producers Associations. It has announced nominees in nine award categories with 37 films from 16 countries - Australia, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Palestine, China, South Korea, Russia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey.

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.

11th Osian Cinefan Film Fest

Indian movie 'Khargosh' won three awards at the grande finale of 11th Osian Cinefan Film Fest held in the capital of New Delhi. The movie directed by Paresh Kamdar won awards in category of Special Mention, Audience Award and for combining the real and the imaginary world and its lyrical beauty of images.




The Best Film Award was won by Syrian movie 'The Long Night', which also won the award for combining the real and the imaginary world and its lyrical beauty of images. In the short film category, the Iranian movie, 'The First Film', directed by Panah Panahi, won the best award. Indian movie, 'Vitthal', directed by Vinoo Choliparambil also won the Special Mention award in the short film category.

Behnam Behzadi's 'Before the Burial' won the best actor and actress awards for Alireza Aqakhani and Negar Javaherian respectively.

This year the festival screened about 100 feature-length and short from Asian and Arab countries.

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.

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.

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.

Anil all over at IIFLA 2009

Image by angshah via Flickr

The 6th year IFFLA opened on April 2, 2009 and continued till 26th. It
began with the traditional red carpet reception for the stars,
directors, producers, sponsors and big names in the film business.

Undoubtedly, the most sought after in the glittering line of
celebrities was Anil Kapoor, who was seen patiently obliging the media
with his charismatic demeanor even as the inaugural address was well
on its way by Marouda inside the theater.

A special reception was given at the Theater for Anil Kapoor on the
night of April 23 when the World Premiere of the English version of “
Gandhi, My Father” was screened. Before the show, Screen Actors Guild
President Alan Rosenberg presented a SAG card signifying Kapoor’s
membership. In an absorbing Q & A session following the movie, a very
emotional Kapoor responded to questions on the making of the troubled
relationship between the Mahatma and his eldest son and the compelling
reasons why he took on the responsibility of doing the role. Following
a philosophical introduction Kapoor closed with “ If we succeed ,
thank you very much – if we don’t , it’s okay!”

Pride of Opening Night Screening went to “ The Fakir of Venice” shot
in the gorgeous setting of the European city with a bizarre story line
which would have seemed far fetched had it not been introduced by its
director Anand Surapur and one of the lead actors Annu Kapoor as
being based on a true story.

The event showcased 36 films from 7 countries, including 4 world and 8
U.S. premieres. It was a great honor to present a tribute to Anil
Kapoor, star and Bollywood legend with over 100 films under his belt
and that three of his movies, ‘Gandhi My Father,’ ‘Virasat’ and
‘Lamhe’ were screened with the man himself in attendance.

The film festival continues to support filmmakers and not just their
films with its successful One-on- One program that brings together a
diverse mix of film professionals for brief, casual and intimate
meetings with participating filmmakers.

Dada Saheb Phalke - The Father of Indian Cinema

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Dadasaheb Phalke - The Father of Indian Cinema was born as Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, at Trymbakeshwar near Nasik in 1870. Being son of a shashtri, Dajishastri Phalke, he was committed to be shastri and was trained for a career, as a Sanskrit scholar.

Dadasaheb Phalke as he was to be later called, came to Bombay (now Mumbai) with his clan when his father joined Wilson College as a professor. Having a keen interest in arts, Dadasaheb Phalke joined Sir J. J. School of Arts in 1885 for a course in Drawing and then continued with his art studies at Baroda’s famous Kalabhavan.

Formerly he earned his living painting the scenes for various dramatic companies. Later, he began as a photographer. In 1903, he joined the Archaeological Department as a photographer and this was where he was introduced to the magic of cinema. Thus, ‘Raja Harishchandra’ was made in 1913 under the banner of Phalke Film Co.

In 1917, Phalke Film Co. was integrated into the Hindustan Film Co.

Dadasaheb’s ‘Raja Harishchandra’ is recognized as the first indigenously made ’story’ film. It was released in Bombay in 1913, and was not only produced, directed, written and photographed by him, but also processed, printed and edited by him. Except for the imported camera, the processing outfit and the raw film, which were not made in India, everything was organized by him locally.

Thus, D.G. Phalke was the foremost pioneer of the Indian Cinema who established the basic norms of film-making in almost every department of this conglomerate art. He was his own scenarist, cameraman, art-director, costume-designer, editor, processor, printer, developer, projectionist and even distributor. This one man institution gave India its most fundamental traditions in film making and established the motion picture as a form of entertainment, a medium, an art, and an aspect and extension of Indian culture.

In fact, it was Dadasaheb Phalke who introduced the first heroine to Indian Cinema.

Those were the times when there was a dearth of talented artistes willing to work in films. Even stage artistes shied away from the new medium, no woman, not eve a dancing girl, would agree to act in a film.

So for the role of Taramati in Raja Harishchandra Phale had to go to a delicate looking young man. He selected Salunke to play Taramati, Salunke who was serving as a cook in a restaurant. Later Salunke played both Rama and Seeta in Lanka Dahan and became the most popular actor and actress of the period. The film was Phalke’s biggest hit.
His other noted films are Shri Krishna Janma (1918),Kaliya Mardan (1919),Setu Bandhan (1923) and Gangavataran (1937).

In the year 1969 that is celebrated as the birth centenary year of the Father of Indian Cinema, in a belifting commemoration of his contribution to Indian Cinema, a new National Award named Dadasaheb Phalke Award was introduced.

This Award is given annually for distinguished contribution to the film medium, its growth and promotion. It has been given to some really eminent personalities.The first recipient of this Award was Devika Rani Roerich, popular as Devika Rani. Last year it went to late legendary filmmaker Tapan Sinha.

At the age of 74 on February 16th, 1944 Dadasaheb Phalke expired in Nasik.