Nawazuddin, Tannishtha win big at international film fest

Acclaimed talents Nawazuddin Siddiqui     and Tannishtha Chatterjee were on Monday named Best Actors at the debut edition of the Lonavla International Film Festival India (LIFFI), where the Best Director honour went to Anant Mahadevan for Rough Book.
While Nawazuddin was lauded for bringing alive the struggle of real life hero Dashrath Manjhi in Manjhi – The Mountain Man, Tannishtha’s portrayal of a teacher with a difference in Rough Book won the LIFFI jury’s heart.
Tannishtha shared the Best Actor (Female) Award with her National School of Drama senior Bhagirathi Bai Kadam who has delivered a power-packed performance in Assamese film Scarecrow. The two shared a hug on stage, and Nawazuddin’s award was collected by Manjhi – The Mountain Man director Ketan Mehta.
LIFFI, organised by actor-writer-director Riju Bajaj, businessman Madhav Todi and San Francisco-based doctor Anamika Sharma at the Triose Plaza here, began on September 1 with a promising gathering of some of the film industry’s veterans like Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Deepa Sahi and more.
The closing ceremony of the fest at the lush green hill station saw known names like filmmakers Ketan Mehta, Anees Bazmee, Vivek Agnihotri and actors like Tannishtha, Rajit Kapur and Dolly Thakore.
Mehta, who won a Special Jury Award for Manjhi – The Mountain Man, had three of his films showcased at the fest, including his much-talked about short film Toba Tek Singh.
‘I feel I’ve just started… It’s been a great love affair with cinema, and I hope it lasts long,’ said Mehta, whose Rang Rasiya won the Best Art Direc tor for Nitin Chandrakant Desai and even won in the Best Cinematography category.
As a mark of recognising producers, LIFFI has instituted a Best Producer Award. It went to Susanta Kumar Mahapatra’s Pahada Ra Luha. Its a project that was shot over a course of 25 years, featured non-actors and was also announced as the Best Film of LIFFI 2016. (IANS)