These 3 Films Stole The Limelight At The LIFFT India Filmotsav 2017

The evening began here on Wednesday, with the melodious musician Vidya Shah enthralling a houseful of enthusiasts which included, veteran actress Tanuja, director Avinash Das, journalist Nandita Puri, veteran filmmaker Govind Nihalani, actress Mita Vasishth, former director of National School of Drama and veteran actor Ram Gopal Bajaj, among others with film lovers who had come down to Lonavla to witness the LIFFT India Filmotsav 2017 awards night.

Musician Leslie Lewis rocked the night with some of his personal numbers which are yet to see the daylight but were exclusively played at the extravaganza which ended on Tuesday.

Before the winners were announced, late actor Om Puri was remembered. The festival honoured Narayan for his work in Fine Arts.

Parched won three trophies — Best Cinematography which was won by Russell Carpenter, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Costume which went to Ashima Belapurkar.

Mango Dreams bagged two awards with Pankaj Tripathi winning the Supporting Role Category Male and John Upchurch for the Best Screenplay.

Lathe Joshi, on the other hand, took home the Best Feature Film, Best Supporting Actor Female won by Ashvini Girl and the Best Director Award by Mangesh Joshi.

There were a total of 29 categories of awards. The jury — which consisted of Gopal bajaj, Dolly Thakore, Gyan Sarah, Atul Tiwari, Suhail Tatami, Shefali Bhushan and Parag Chhapekar — chose Peter Engleman from Hungary for his project “#Help” under the category Best Student Film.

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While filmmaker Govind Nihalani’s debut Marathi film Ti Ani Itar and Sunaina Bhatnagar’s Dear Maya bagged the Jury Award.

“Eh Janam Tumhare Lekhe” bagged the Best Biopic award.

Ricardo Herrera won the Best Actor Male for his performance in Shining Moon while Jaya Seal took home the Best Actor Female for her work in Alifa.

Sandeep Kothari clinched the Best Child Actor Male award for his performance in Pinti Ka Sabun.

Gun Mihani won the Best Child Actress award for her work in Mum, while Pramod Pathak’s Pinti Ka Sabun took home the Best Children’s Film.

Best Producer was won by Pragati Kolage for her first Marathi film Palyadwasi.

Best Debut Director was bagged by William Gonzalez for She, The Sergeant Matache.

Iranian director Sadegh Jayaraj clinched the award for Best Documentary for Weavers of Imagination.

Best Green Film, Stolen river which is based on Indian river Ganga by Christina Danka

(The writer’s trip was at the invitation of LIFFT India Filmotsav 2017. Kishori Sud can be contacted at kishori. sud@ians.in)