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Urmila Matondkar

Asian film festival closes in glittering style
24th July 2006 13.00 IST
By Agencies

The closing day of the eighth Osian Film festival of Asian Cinema saw a host of celebrities from the world of Bollywood descend on the Siri Fort complex in New Delhi on Sunday.

Just when cinema buffs had given up all hopes to 'catch a glimpse' of any Bollywood star at the Asian film festival, which concluded on Sunday evening, they were suddenly showered with the presence of stars like Urmila Matondkar , Juhi Chawla , Nandita Das , Raima Sen , Shyan Munshi , Jimmy Shergill and yesteryear's Bollywood heartthrob Shashi Kapoor and Simi Garewal .

Filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli won the Special Jury award for his film 'In the Shadow of the Dog', while the Best Film Award was bagged by 'The Cleansing Rites' (Suddha) by P N Ramchandra, the first film in Tulu language. The Best Actor award was bagged by Subratta Dutta for his role in 'Calcutta Unabashed' while the Best Actress award was won by Tannishta Chaterjee for her role in the same film.

While the glamorous Urmila Matondkar handed over the Best Actor award to Subratta Dutta, actress Nandita Das gave the award for best actress in the section and Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla gave the award to filmmaker P N Ramchandra.

The Phillipines film 'Bet Collector' bagged three awards - FIPRESI jury Award for Best film as well as the Best Actress and Best Film Award in the Asian competition section.

The Turkish film 'Two Girls' by Kutlug Ataman won the Special Jury Prize in the Asian competition section. Two films, 'Homeland' by Tareque and Catherine Masud from Bangladesh and 'Love's Lone Flower' by Tsao Jui Yuan from Taiwan, won a special mention in the Asian competition section.

The NETPAC jury award went to 'Midnight My Love' from Thailand.

The day also witnessed yesteryear's Bollywood star Shashi Kapoor and the lady in white Simi Garewal make an appearance at the festival for the screening of their 1970s film, Siddhartha, a movie adaptation of Hermann Hesse’s book.

Speaking to mediapersons, the actor expressed elation over the fact that films by talented young and upcoming filmmakers were finally finding an outlet at the Asian film festival.

"There is not much of good cinema being made in the country. So, if some filmmakers are attempting good films, they should be encouraged by showcasing at forums like the Asian film festival."

Two days back, the glamorous Urmila Matondkar make an appearance at the Osians' Cinefan along with actors Jimmy Shergill and Sanjay Suri in connection with the world premiere of their latest film Bas Ek Pal , directed by talented young filmmaker Onir. Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Suri, who incidentally hails from Delhi, said it was a homecoming for him every time he came to Delhi considering that it was his first home.

The closing film on Sunday was Jafar Panahi’s ‘Offside’ (from Iran). The film got a thundering applause after the screening.

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Urmila Matondkar
Juhi Chawla
Nandita Das
Raima Sen
Jimmy Shergill
Shashi Kapoor
Simi Garewal
Sanjay Suri
Bas Ek Pal