Karan wins top honour

Filmmaker Karan Johar; actors Sushant Singh Rajput, Konkana Sen Sharma and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have emerged as big winners at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) awards.

Johar was honoured with the leadership in cinema award. “I feel so blessed... especially to be a part of this absolutely amazing year, to be nominated with films like Dangal, Pink and Baahubali, which I felt so proud to be associated with in a tiny way,” Johar said. The fest will screen Johar’s latest movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil along with 60 other films. The director will also hold a special masterclass.

Sushant was named best actor for his role in M S Dhoni: The Untold Story, while the best actress honour went to Lipstick Under My Burkha star Konkona. The award for excellence in global cinema was given to Aishwarya. “I would like to dedicate the honour to every talent, every director who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to do the kind of work that I have done in cinema,” she said.

Nitesh Tiwari won the best director award for Dangal and also shared the people’s choice award with Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. Rahul Bose-directed film Poorna won the equality in cinema award, while the best film gong went to Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Pink. —PTI

Doing India proud

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has become the first female actor ever to hoist the Indian National Flag at the festival. The official handle of IFFM posted a picture on Twitter with a caption that read, “Aishwarya Rai Bachchan hoists the Indian national flag at @FedSquare celebrating the 70th yr of Indian independence”. While she looked stunning donning a white and light blue floor length Anarkali dress, her darling daughter Aradhya was in a white ghagra choli. “Thank you so much Melbourne, thank you everyone for giving us such a moment of pride and happiness,” she said. ANI