Filmmaker Karan Johar, actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Konkona Sen Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan emerged as big winners at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) award ceremony on Friday night.
Johar was honoured with the leadership in cinema award.
“I feel so blessed... especially to be a part of this absolutely amazing year, to be nominated with films like Dangal , Pink and Baahubali , which I felt so proud to be associated with in a tiny way,” Johar said.
The festival will screen Johar’s latest movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil along with 60 other films. The director will also hold a special masterclass.
Sushant Singh Rajput was named best actor for his role in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story , while the best actress honour went to Lipstick Under My Burkha- star Konkona Sen Sharma.
“The last time when I was in Melbourne, I was dancing behind Bollywood stars as a background dancer at the Commonwealth Games event. Today being recognised as the best actor feels great,” Sushant said.
Global icon
The award for excellence in global cinema was given to Aishwarya Rai. “I would like to dedicate the honour to every talent, every director who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to do the kind of work that I have done in cinema,” she said.
Nitesh Tiwari won the best director award for Dangal and also shared the people’s choice award with Baahubali 2: The Conclusion .
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank people all over the world for giving so much love to Dangal . It is the first international award for the film,” Tiwari said.
Rahul Bose-directed film Poorna won the equality in cinema award, while the best film gong went to Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Pink .
Lion director Garth Davis won the diversity award this year and the festival’s opening night film Lipstick Under My Burkha won the best indie film award.
Singers Akriti, Prakriti and Sukriti Kakar performed during the award ceremony, which also featured a special performance by children and young adults with Down Syndrome.
I-Day celebration
As a special annual feature of the event, Aishwarya Rai hoisted the Indian flag along with Indian High Commissioner to Australia A.M. Gondane; Consul General of India in Melbourne Manika Jain and festival director Mitu Bhowmick Lange at the Federation Square building to celebrate the 70th Indian Independence Day.
The 43-year-old actor was accompanied by her five-year-old daughter, Aaradhya.
The 13-day long festival will close on August 22 with the screening of Raveena Tandon’s film Shab and Tramjatra , a documentary which details the unexpected relationship struck between Melbournian tram conductor Roberto D’Andrea and fans and drivers of Kolkata’s trams.
