59th NATIONAL FILM AWARDS: Onir, Vidya Balan, Ra.One and more

Photograph: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

It was an exciting and momentous day for the films and crews nominated to the National Film Awards 2011. Our heartiest congratulations to all winners!

Best Hindi Film: I AM (Onir)  
Best Feature Films (2 awards): Deool and Byari  
Best Director: Gurvinder Singh for Anhe Ghorey Da Daan   
Best Bengali Film: Ranjana Ami Aar Ashbo Na  
Best Marathi Film: Shaala  
Best Dialogue: Deool  
Best Actress: Vidya Balan, The Dirty Picture  
Best Actor: Girish Kulkarni for Deool


Read more>>

INDIA REPUBLIC DAY Clip Directed by PURAB KOHLI

Multi-talented Purab Kohli has recently directed a touching clip for India's Republic Day with a heartwarming message inviting all Indians to be sensitive to their youngsters, who are the future of the nation.

The moving clip was filmed in a peaceful emblematic beach in Goa and features the Indian national anthem in the background, performed by the golden and subtle guitar fingers of Dhruv Ghanekar. 

Happy Republic Day, India!

Directed by: Purab H Kohli Visuals: Pushan Kripalani Editing: Onir. Read our exclusive interview with Purab Kohli (2010)

I-VIEW South Asia in New York 2010

If South Asia is your pick, from visual arts to fashion, from music to cinema, from to politics to human rights... the Big Apple's I-VIEW FESTIVAL will cater to that and more!

Organized by Engendered, the film festival focuses on exploring gender, sexuality, culture and religion through South Asian cinema, offering a rich program of events for the glee of those wanting to delve deep into meaningful subjects, arts and fashion.

This year's edition will take place from September 18-26th in Manhattan and will start with a bang by opening with Duane Baughman's 'Bhutto'  (Sundance official selection) and acclaimed director Onir Anirban's ('My Brother Nikhil', 'Bas Ek Pal') most recent film, 'I Am', starring reputed actors who will attend the festival's inauguration together with other icons of modern South Asian cinema:

Juhi Chawla,

Sanjay Suri,

Purab Kohli,

Raima Sen,

Rahul Bose,

Arjun Mathur,

Rituparno Ghosh,

Vishal Bhardwaj,

Abhishek Chaubey,

Arshad Warsi,

Zeenat Aman

Rituparna Sengupta,

Sabrina Dhawan

Actress Konkona Sen Sharma will attend a QandA session for the festival's closing, presenting her film 'Mirch' with director Vinay Shukla and Raima Sen as well as her own directorial debut, 'Naam Karan'.

The film festival also dedicates a retrospective to Aparna Sen, who will be attending the event.

Other films in the programme include 'Love Sex aur Dhoka', 'Maqbool', 'Ishqiya' and 'President is Coming' among an excellent selection ranging from Bollywood to independent cinema, short films or documentaries. For more information on the program and tickets, click here.

INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF LOS ANGELES

The Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) is coming up with a wide selection of films, ranging from drama and documentaries to comedy or Bollywood hits. It will run from April 20-25 at ArcLight Hollywood, showcasing 33 films from India, Canada, Australia, UK and the USA, including 4 world premieres and 7 US premieres. An additional program of 13 short films will accompany the feature film schedule.

The festival's inauguration Gala shall feature the Los Angeles premiere and directorial debut of Dilip Mehta, 'Cooking with Stella', a comedy starring Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas and Don McKellar on Tuesday, April 20, 2010, at ArcLight Hollywood.

Bollywood screenings are also planned during the festival as part of ArcLight Hollywood’s “21+ screenings” soirées in which the audience may enjoy a movie while sipping a glass of wine or a decadent cocktail. The program features box office success '3 Idiots', 'Kaminey' starring Shahid Kapoor and the re-mastered 'Ashes to Ashes' ('Raakh'), directed by Aditya Bhattacharya, which introduced a dark and acclaimed performance by Hindi film superstar Aamir Khan. 

The festival's closing Gala shall feature an Australian production about adoption: 'The Waiting City', directed by Claire McCarthy and starring Radha Mitchell, Joel Edgerton and Samrat Chakrabarti. The event shall be held on Saturday, April 25, 2010, at ArcLight Hollywood, and shall have the director and part of the film's cast in attendance.

Tickets are sold online here and at the ArcLight Hollywood Box Office. For more information you may visit the IFFLA's official website.

Find the feature film program below:

3 IDIOTS (India) -  (Directed by: Rajkumar Hirani; starring Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, R Madhavan, Boman Irani and Sharman Joshi)

ASHES TO ASHES (RAAKH Redux) (India) -  (Directed by: Aditya Bhattacharya; Screenwriters: Aditya Bhattacharya, Nuzhat Khan/dialogue)

AT MY DOORSTEP (India) - (Director/Editor: Nishtha Jain) 

BABIES MADE IN INDIA (India) - (Directed by: Stéphanie Lebrun, Philippe Levasseur)
COOKING WITH STELLA (Canada) - (Directed by: Dilip Mehta; Screenwriters: Dilip Mehta, Deepa Mehta)

FATSO (India) - (Directed by: Rajat Kapoor)

HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY (India) - (Director/Screenwriter: Paresh Mokashi)

KAMINEY (SCOUNDRELS) (India) - (Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj; Screenwriters: Vishal Bhardwaj, Supratik Sen, Abhishek Chaubey, Sabrina Dhawan)

MAD, SAD & BAD (UK) - (Director/Screenwriter: Avie Luthra)

THE MAN BEYOND THE BRIDGE (PALTADACHO MUNIS) (India) - (Director/Screenwriter: Laxmikant Shetgaonkar)

NERO’S GUESTS (India) - (Directed by: Deepa Bhatia)

RASPBERRY MAGIC (USA) - (Director/Screenwriter: Leena Pendharkar)

ROAD, MOVIE (India-USA) - (Director: Dev Benegal; Screenwriter: Dev Benegal) 

SEARCHING 4 SANDEEP (Australia) - (Director/Screenwriter/ Cinematographer: Poppy Stockell) 

THE SUN BEHIND THE CLOUDS: TIBET’S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM (India-UK) - (Directed by: Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam; Screenwriter/Narrator: Tenzing Sonam)

THE WAITING CITY (Australia) - (Director/Screenwriter: Claire McCarthy) --

THE WELL (VIHIR) (India) - (Directed by: Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni) 

WOMAN REBEL (Nepal-India) - (Director/Producer: Kiran Deol)