INDIAN FILM FESTIVAL OF MELBOURNE INTRODUCES IFFM AWARDS
Festival Dates: Thursday 1 May – Sunday 11 May
The 2014 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is proud to announce the establishment of an international competition in 2014 with the presentation of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards. The festival is the southern hemisphere’s greatest annual celebration of Indian cinema and takes place from Thursday 1 to Friday 11 May.
The inaugural Indian Film Festival Awards (IFFM Awards) will honour films in five categories: Best Film, Best Performance, Best Director, Best Independent Film and the People’s Choice Award. This will be the first Indian cinema awards of its kind in Australia.
A select number of narrative feature films will be invited into competition. The films will be judged by an International Jury of prominent Indian and Australian film industry figures from a wide range of backgrounds. The stellar list includes award-winning Australian director Phillip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence, Dead Calm, The Quiet American); world renowned Australian film editor Jill Bilcock (Strictly Ballroom, Elizabeth, Moulin Rouge, Red Dog and Shekhar Kapur’s upcoming Paani) and 2013 Gold Jury member for the Mumbai Film Festival;celebrated Indian film maker , Raju Hirani ( Munnabhai MBBS , Lage rahoo Munna Bhai and 3 Idiots ) Indian actress, producer and television presenter Simi Garewal; Rajeev Masand, one of India’s most respected film critics (The Indian Express, Star News, CNN-IBN, GQ India), and Indian actress, director, writer and producer, Suhasini Maniratnam. Winners of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards announced at the Festival.
Says Festival Director Mitu Bhowmick-Lange, “We are thrilled to announce the inaugural Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards. The Awards continue to build the festival’s reputation as an important international showcase for contemporary Indian cinema.”
India’s most revered actress, Vidya Balan returns in 2014 as Festival Ambassador. This caps off a stellar year for the actress. Vidya was a 2013 Cannes Jury Member and in January was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award given by the Indian government. Vidya Balan will be in Melbourne to launch the festival program on March 28.
IFFM continues to offer a window into the future of filmmaking. The Western Union Short Film Competition is now open to filmmakers from India and Australia. Go to www.iffm.com.au/comp.html for full application details.
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne was established in 2012 as an initiative of the Victorian Coalition Government and presents a broad, curated program of more than thirty films, ranging from Bollywood to art house and the sub continent, as well as master classes. In 2014, the festival presents a world-class program of films across three Melbourne cinemas. The full IFFM program launches March 28
For more information on the Jury please go to http://www.iffm.com.au/jury.html
For more information go to www.iffm.com.au
Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Indian-Film-Festival and Twitter twitter.com/#!/IndianFFMelb
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‘Airtel Rising Stars to send 11 talented footballers to train at the Manchester United Soccer School’
Mumbai’s Sanath Valldares and Akram Khan have been selected
· ‘Airtel Rising Stars’, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt saw 23 selected participants from 7 cities take part in the two-day final trials in Goa
· The young players were judged on technical and tactical skill, physical and mental strength, social skills, on field behavior, communication, discipline, enthusiasm and fair play
· 11 of the most promising youngsters (including a goalkeeper) were selected and awarded the chance-of-a-lifetime to train at the Manchester United Soccer School and kick-off a career in professional football
Mumbai, 21 February 2014: Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14, India’s largest under-16 soccer talent hunt and an initiative launched by Bharti Airtel to provide young talented footballers the chance-of-a-lifetime to train at the Manchester United Soccer School, today concluded its six-month hunt and handpicked 11 talented children who will travel to the United Kingdom and train at the prestigious school.
The selected players are Arka Dey and Rajib Roy from Kolkata, Md. Aqib and Karan Khurana from Delhi, Premchand Singh (GoalKeeper) and Niraj Singh from Bangalore, Sanath Valldares and Akram Khan from Mumbai, Rakesh K. from Hyderabad, Liston Colaco and Jolitan Dias from Goa. The two-day final trials took place under the guidance of Manchester United coaches Lami Sonola, Kevin O’Connell, Dave Chapman and Adam Hilton.
From warm up exercises that included dynamic stretching, fun competitive games with and without a football to rigorous sessions where coaches tested players with different scenarios and conditions, the two-day camp had it all. The players were also divided into teams and tested on some specific parameters such as physical attributes, individual skills, match situations and performances in actual matches. Sessions included areas such as dribbling skills, shooting skills and specialized workshop for players and goalkeepers.
Each player got equal opportunity and time to demonstrate his skills before 11 of the finest players were chosen to travel to Manchester United for a week and to train alongside the Manchester United Academy team.
Speaking about ‘Airtel Rising Stars 2013-14’, Mr. Rohin Pinto (Zonal Business Head, Goa & Konkan) , Bharti Airtel said, “We are thrilled to have come to the end of yet another edition of ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ that gave us an opportunity to witness, first hand, the phenomenal talent that exists in our country. The program gave many young children across India a chance to display their talent. We believe the 11 young children chosen today will transform into excellent footballers in the time to come. Airtel is delighted to associate with Manchester United and bring alive the football dreams of India’s many talented players.”
Delighted to announce the conclusion of ARS 2013-14, Lami Sonola from Manchester United said, “Each year, we are pleasantly surprised to see the kind of potential young players in India possess. This year again, it was a pleasure to take Airtel Rising Stars into its second year of serious soccer talent scouting and choose 11 young, dynamic and talented players who will possibly kick-off a career in professional football. I would also like to take this opportunity to commend the efforts of each player who participated in ARS this year and wish them the best.”
Kamshon Khongmalai and Azad Nirame from Bangalore, K. Nagaraju (Goalkeeper), A.Rahul and Mohd. Kasheem from Hyderabad have been selected as standbys incase an injury, illness or passport / visa problems occur to any of the selected players.
The on-ground execution of ‘Airtel Rising Stars’ has been entrusted to Procam International – India’s largest Sports marketing and Leisure Management company.
In 2009, Bharti Airtel had announced its tie-up with Manchester United to bring a variety of benefits for Airtel’s football loving customers in India. As part of this association, Airtel customers across India have been enjoying exclusive access to Manchester United football content as well as money-can’t-buy match experiences. The ARS programme is an extension of this long term association between brand Airtel and Manchester United.
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The makers of the film, 2 States, have released the first poster of the film. Attached is the newly released poster
A UTV Motion Pictures presentation, and a Sajid Nadiadwala & Karan Johar production, 2 States has been directed by Abhishek Varman and stars Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor. It is based on Chetan Bhagat’s best-selling novel 2 States, and is slated to release on 18th April, 2014.
Trailer of the movie to be out soon. For other updates, users can subscribe to the YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/DharmaMovies.
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KD Pathak to fight with Anaconda
In the upcoming episode of Adaalat, KD Pathak has to solve a mystery behind the series of murder. Karsan bhai the manager of Keshav Jagasia, who is a big businessman gets accused of Mr. Keshav’s murder with the help of an Anaconda. This Anaconda was smuggled to India with the help of Alex a snake hunter. But the snake got stolen and Jagasia got killed. KD takes up the case saying it is not that easy to control the anaconda and use it to kill someone. We see another murder of Natasha Jagasia’s secretary. Case gets more confusing as Karsan is behind the bars. The doubt goes onto Pranali (MR. Jagasia’s wife) as Natasha and him were having an affair. But the case becomes more difficult when Pranali is also murdered by the anaconda. Next KD doubts Arnav MR. Jagasia’s brother but he too gets killed by the Anaconda. Whoever KD doubted gets killed? We also see the Anaconda come to KDs office trying to attack him. Will KD be able to save himself or fall a victim to the predator?
Watch the mystery behind Anaconda this Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 pm only on Sony Entertainment Television
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The Heart Stealer Singer/Composer Kamal Mahrshi faces the Real Stealing !!
Singer and Composer Kamal Mahrshi who has been stealing people’s heart with his latest single on you tube “Chal Diya” which made him win the Lions Gold Awards 2013 for the Star in the making Pop Artist, was on the stolen end this time. Kamal had a meeting with an organizer from where he collected cash 1 lakh Rupees and was driving towards the Western express highway; His galaxy note phone was lying on the packet of cash too, at the aarey colony signal on the highway suddenly a guy started banging his car from the left side and came and opened his door, which was unluckily unlocked, Kamal shouted at him to shut the door, and just then someone came from the right and started knocking his window from the right. Kamal turned to look at the right and just then the other guy picked up the phone and cash and ran away, before kamal could understand anything the guy on the right too ran away. Kamal took off his seat belt and got out of his car, but by then the two guys had vanished. In few seconds the guys planned and distracted me and here I was in the middle of the road looking like a fool and shocked, says Kamal Mahrshi. When Kamal Mahrshi posted this on Facebook a lot of people shared how they were robbed in the same manner in the past. Keep your car locked at all times and do not keep your phones and valuables on the dashboard or seat next to you while you are driving alone, added Kamal Mahrshi. This can happen to anyone. Mumbai streets are not safe.
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https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-a7TmH6SQOY4/UgthsuT03zI/AAAAAAAB_M8/PLEEETOvio0/s1600/Senior-actress-Sulabha-Deshpande-sets-TV.jpg
High end drama is waiting ahead in Sony Entertainment Television’s romantic saga Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara. The show will now witness the Modi and Goel family under one roof. After the extravanganzana wedding of the most romantic couple of TV Saanchi’s family will come to Goel house to meet her.
Aaji, Nani and Dilshad visit the Goel house in Mumbai to surprise their adorable daughter but the twist in the tale occurs where they are not allowed to enter the house and are asked to wait outside by the security gaurd. Suparna plays a trick and purposely makes them to wait outside the house which effects Aaji’s health. As a result of which Aaji’s faints in the scorching heat.
What happens next?
To find out tune into Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara from Monday to Friday at 9:30 pm only on Sony Entertainment Television
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Crime Patrol to depict a Mumbai case this weekend
The very popular and most watched crime show of Sony Entertainment Television Crime Patrol has come up with some more thrilling and shocking cases. In the upcoming episode, Crime patrol unlocks the mystery behind the kidnapping of a 3-year old girl named Koyal from Mumbai. Koyal was playing with her 5-year old cousin Riddhi at a nearby garden when the kidnapper took Koyal away. The investigation further reveal that Anjali had separated from her husband Harish Sonawane and had been living with her sister ever since the separation. The needle of suspicion points at Harish Sonawane. The Kidnapper plays a cat-n-mouse game with both Anjali and the police. Who is the kidnapper and what does he want? The mystery unfolds this Friday on Crime Patrol.
Saturday’s episode of Crime Patrol investigates the killing of a young girl Pooja (23) from Rohtak. According to Pooja’s mother Sharda Anand the crime was committed by two burqa (veil) clad women who came to meet Pooja late in the evening. They killed Pooja by slitting her throat and ran away with cash and jewelry. The investigating police further learn that Pooja was a rebel child and had a bold and reckless attitude. She was heavily into partying and drinking and her behavior was a bone of contention for her mother who didn’t like her wayward ways. The police also learn that the servant of the house had a spare key. With three suspects in sight, the police have a herculean task in hand to find the real killer. Watch the murder mystery play out itself this Saturday on Crime Patrol – Dastak.
Tune in to watch Crime Patrol every Friday-Saturday at 11pm only Sony Entertainment television
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Best Boogie Woogie performance in 17 years
The upcoming episode of Boogie Woogie will witness contestant Aryan Patra set a new bench mark for everyone as he will deliver the best performance ever seen in 17 years of the popular dance reality show.
The episode will see ace dancer and actor Jackky Bhagnani along with his lovely co-actor Neha Sharma make an appearance on the show to promote their upcoming film ‘Youngistaan’. The episode will witness some mesmerizing performances that will leave the judges and guests enthralled. Jackky will be so awestruck by Aryan’s ‘Tandav’ act that he will get up from his seat and salute him and also congratulate him for his brilliant dance. Later, the judges will declare that his act was the best performance on Boogie Woogie in 17 years.
So get ready to witness some scintillating performances on Boogie Woogie this Saturday, 22nd February 2014 at 8:30pm only on Sony Entertainment Television
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One Direction Wins Big at the Brit Awards 2014
21st February, 2014: One Direction’s enduring worldwide popularity once again ensured that they did not leave the Brit Awards 2014 empty handed. ‘The Story Of My Life’ singers accepted two glorious awards, the Global Success Award and the Best British Video Award, the latter for the “Best Song Ever” clip at the Brit Awards 2014 held at the O2 Arena in London.
For the second year in a row One Direction bagged the Global Success Award, a prize for the UK artist which has achieved the greatest international sales. They also won the Best British Video award, which was voted for by Twitter. Chosen by the fans, the X Factor boyband were a hot favourite for the award, which was decided by the Brit Awards’ first ever social media vote. Voting opened when the show began with each nominated artist assigned their own Twitter hashtag. Billions of Directioners took #BritsOneDirection to make their favourite band to win the award. The band’s third album Midnight Memories topped charts all around the globe and produced hit singles Best Song Ever, Story of My Life and Midnight Memories.
The evening at the awards was a celebration for the U.K. music industry. Pharrell Williams capped off the evening with a medley of their Daft Punk collaboration “Get Lucky” and Williams’ No. 2 solo hit “Happy.”
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Hrishitaa Bhatt’s Daring Item Number
The Bong Bomshell Hrishitaa Bhatt is set to be a part of director Harish Kotian and Sandeep Choudhary’s “Love Day 14th Feb”. She will be performing a sensual item number. The movie also stars Ajaz Khan, Sahil Anand, Harsh Nagar, Johny Lever, Sonal Singh, Makrand Deshpande.
According to the sources, she wants to raise the bar, set by other B-town actresses. Malaika Arora khan and Katrina Kaif have already carved a niche for themselves in Bollywood. Hrishitaa has put in lot of efforts for the song, from a stringent fitness regime that included gymming for long hours to giving up on her favourite chocolates and cakes. It paid off well.
The sultry beauty bares a lot more than what is expected by the Bollywood junta. Unlike a lot of other tinsel town beauties this pretty lady isn’t shy or secretive about her daring act.In fact, she is quite kicked about it. The item song is on the verge of completion and will be out pretty soon.
What remains to be seen is whether Hrishita can prove herself as a hot item girl or no.
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The thriller will get twofold when the cast of the upcoming flick Daar @ the mall will be seen in a special episode of Sony Entertainment Television’s longest running crime-thriller show CID.
CID, known for its edge of the seat thriller episodes is all set to give its audiences a spine thrilling episode. The episode will feature the talented actor Jimmy Shergill with none other than our favourite CID Cops!
Talking about his experience on working with the most loved television cops, Jimmy said, “It was a great experience to shoot a special episode with CID team. I think there is no bigger platform than CID to promote a movie. It’s going to be a very interesting episode webbed with thriller and entertainment.”
The case in hand revolves around a mysterious murder committed in a horror house of an amusement park. Together Jimmy with CID team will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of this cryptic case and discover the culprit. While walking through the horror themed maze, a sudden shot leads Jimmy and few kids separated from each other. In the hunt to find the kids, Jimmy discovers a body in the horror house and to his shock it appears to him mummified! CID comes to the rescue to solve this mystifying case and upon investigation CID cops identify the body and confirm that the corpse found by Jimmy was indeed mummified!! They also realize that a kid named Rahul who was accompanying Jimmy is missing. But the question arises, how can a body of person who was alive 10 days ago get mummified- a process that takes at least 70 days??
What is the mystery behind the mummified body? Was there some kind of connection between Rahul and the mummified victim?
To catch this special episode tune in to CID this Friday 21st February at 10pm only on Sony Entertainment Television.
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Post Interim Budget Quote by Jagdish Mahapatra, Managing Director, McAfee – India and SAARC
India – February 21, 2014 – “The interim Union budget-2014-2015 ahead of the Loksabha elections is hinged on development of few economic growth areas but the IT sector lacks substantial representation. It highlights the government’s efforts towards industrial and manufacturing sector growth with the creation of industrial corridors in key geographical locations; and promoting Aadhar as a tool of empowerment by issuing 57 crore unique Numbers. In a bid to trigger domestic manufacturing, the government will drop excise duties on mobile handsets to six per cent which is a welcome move. However, double taxation of software remains status-quo and we would have liked to see removal of dual levies of VAT and service tax on software. Additionally, two of India’s biggest and long-pending tax reform initiatives—the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) still awaits roll-out .” – Jagdish Mahapatra, Managing Director, McAfee – India and SAARC
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About McAfee
McAfee, a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC), empowers businesses, the public sector, and home users to safely experience the benefits of the Internet. McAfee delivers proactive and proven security solutions and services for systems, networks, and mobile devices around the world. With its Security Connected strategy, innovative approach to hardware-enhanced security, and unique Global Threat Intelligence network, McAfee is relentlessly focused on keeping its customers safe. More information is available at www.mcafee.com.
Note: McAfee is a trademark or registered trademark of McAfee, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
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Aaj Tak, India’s most trusted Channel presents the icon of trust & truth – Gandhi
‘Satyagraha – 2014’ every Saturday @ 8PM
New Delhi – 21st Feb, 2014 – Aaj Tak, the nation’s No. 1 News Channel launches a unique series – ‘Satyagraha – 2014’ that draws inspiration from the Father of the Nation – Mahatma Gandhi. With the upcoming elections and the people’s verdict around the corner, claims and counter claims are making the political landscape cloudy for the voter. While the chaos is making the viewer lose patience on the bigger picture, Aaj Tak brings out an anchor in the rebirth of Mahatma Gandhi with this ground breaking series, ‘Satyagraha 2014’. The belief behind the show is that Gandhi Ji is alive in all and his message is constantly reminding people that truth should be the deciding factor in the fate of this year’s elections.
The series is directed by Sunil Manchanda, the ace bollywood Director & Producer who has films like Paa, Cheeni Kum and Tere Naam to his credit. The lead role of Gandhi ji is played by Surender Rajan an actor and composer who had prominent roles in films like The Legend of Bhagat Singh (2002), Phas Gaye Re Obama (2010) and Munnabhai M.B.B.S. (2003).
Talking on the launch, Mr. Supriya Prasad, Managing Editor – Aaj Tak, said, “Aaj Tak is the No. 1 News Channel in the country and is also the most trusted TV Brand. The channel has been at the forefront with initiatives of social responsibility, be it in exposing corruption or on reducing crime in society and Satyagraha 2014 will be the pioneering show on New television with which we hope to bring out social change by bringing back values of non-violence and the pursuit of truth.” With Satyagraha 2014, the Mahatma comes back to real issues and real people. The first episode will be on the backdrop of the recent Muzaffarnagar riots where the Mahatma will be shown taking on elements that foster divisive politics. The episode delves into how Gandhi Ji shares his mantra for healing wounds and asks people to look into the future and come together beyond revenge.
This episode and the following episodes have an underlying message for people to walk into an all powerful path of truth and choosing what is right. The show captures the India that Ganhiji had dreamt of and how his message is relevant in today’s times.
Aaj Tak will be launching this show with the focus of reaching out to viewers across the nation and start a wave of social awakening where people will vote for the Truth and not be swayed by petty politics that has become the norm today. The challenges that the nation faces today are drastically disparate to the ones that Gandhi ji dealt with during India’s Independence. His ideals and his methods for resolving difficult national problems with his message of Peace and Nonviolence still remain relevant. Satyagraha – 2014 will put to test the relevance of Gandhi ji’s message in today’s times and gauge how effectively they can help the nation as we head towards the elections.
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Sandip Soparrkar rocks Seattle India Dance Festival ‘Elements’
Internationally acclaimed and India’s most sort after dancer choreographer Sandip Soparrkar mesmerised the audience through his powerful performance at Settle India Dance Festival in USA. Sandip who has worked with international icons like Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles and Shakira impressed the audience of Seattle on both the days of the festival with his dynamic performance. The dance segment which was concept and brain child of Soparrkar himself was the ancient Greek story of Venus and her lover Adonis but put on stage as a Bollwyood musical, a show so unique and different some calling it a once in a life time show. The dance musical that Sandip Soparrkar presented at the festival had all the elements of a hit show in it, Drama, Fear, Love, Romance, Tragedy and a lesson to take back home for the audience.
Director of PCIPA and Seattle India dance festival Prashanti Chitre said, “I am glad and thankful to Sandip that he accepted our offer to come and perform in Seattle and help raise funds for the charities we are associated with this year for our festival. His performance was spell bounding and so captivating that every person in the audience was in awe of him and his talent.”
The performance of Sandip Soparrkar generated over 40,000 US Dollars and the entire proceeds of the show were donated to three charities; Cry America, Seattle lighthouse for the blind and Sankara Eye Foundation.
Rajesh Munshi of Cry Seattle said, “I wish to thank Sandip for a mesmerising performance and also a big thank you for helping Cry, he is indeed a talented man with a big heart.”
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