Rani Mukerji, Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadha, Vicky Kaushal, Ranbir Kapoor, Freida Pinto and Rajkumar Hirani were among the top awardees at the annual Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards Night. The awards ceremony at the Palais Theatre witnessed a star studded evening with the biggest Bollywood stars walking the red carpet.
Among the winners were films like Hichki, Sanju and the soon to be released Love Sonia, that won awards in the Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Indie Film categories. The highlight of the night was when Simi Garewal gave away the top honour of the night with a moving speech to Rani Mukerji for Excellence in Cinema Award.
Rani Mukerji, winner of the Best Actress and the Excellence in Cinema awards, said, “Thank you Melbourne and thank you to IFFM. This is my first award after becoming a mother, so it’s very special. And I’m so honoured that such a brilliant jury chose me as the winner. I usually don’t give importance to awards but with Hichki it’s different. We made this film to create awareness and I feel there’s little people know about Tourette’s and I feel by winning this award if people get more curious to discover the film it will help the larger idea.”
Among other films the Telugu film Mahanati took home the Equality in Cinema Award and Freida Pinto was conferred with the Diversity in Cinema Award. On being recognised Frieda said, “I feel responsible to be representing the few of my own, my own country in another industry. I think it’s a huge responsibility to create such diversity. And as much as I’m honoured to be given this award, I would like to say it’s not me alone, it’s the writers, the filmmakers, the storytellers who contribute to bring forth such diversity and such diverse roles.”
The night witnessed performances by the musical duo Sachin-Jigar and a stand-up comedy set by comedian and host of the night, Saadiya Ali.
Winners at IFFM
Best Indie Film: Love Sonia
Best Indie Film Special Mention: Gali Guleiyan
Equality in Cinema: Mahanati
Diversity Award: Freida Pinto
Best Actor: Manoj Bajpayee for Gali Guleiyan
IFFM Vanguard Award: Ranbir Kapoor for his performance in Sanju
Best Actress: Rani Mukerji for Hichki
Best film: Sanju
Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Best Supporting Performance: Vicky Kaushal for Sanju and Richa Chadha for Love Sonia
Excellence in Cinema: Rani Mukerji