Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Tannishtha Chatterjee were on Monday named best actors at the debut edition of the Lonavla International Film Festival India (LIFFI), and the best director honour went to Anant Mahadevan for Rough Book.
While Siddiqui was lauded for bringing alive the struggle of real life hero Dashrath Manjhi in Manjhi — The Mountain Man, Chatterjee’s portrayal of a teacher with a difference in Rough Book won the LIFFI jury’s heart.
Chatterjee shared the best actor (female) Award with her National School of Drama senior Bhagirathi Bai Kadam who delivered a power-packed performance in Assamese film Scarecrow. The two shared a hug on stage, and Siddiqui’s award was collected by Manjhi — The Mountain Man director Ketan Mehta.
LIFFI, organised by actor-writer-director Riju Bajaj, businessman Madhav Todi and San Francisco-based doctor Anamika Sharma at the Triose Plaza in Lonavla, began on September 1, with veterans such as Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal, Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah, Deepa Sahi and more in attendance.
The closing ceremony of the festival saw known names such as filmmakers Ketan Mehta, Anees Bazmee, Vivek Agnihotri and actors Rajit Kapur and Dolly Thakore attend.
Mehta, who won a Special Jury Award for Manjhi — The Mountain Man, had three of his films showcased at the festival, including his short film Toba Tek Singh.
“I feel I’ve just started... It’s been a great love affair with cinema, and I hope it lasts long,” said Mehta, whose Rang Rasiya won best art direction for Nitin Chandrakant Desai and even won in the best cinematography category.
LIFFI has also introduced a best producer award. It went to Susanta Kumar Mahapatra for Pahada Ra Luha — a project that was shot over the course of 25 years, featured non-actors and the film was also announced as best film of LIFFI 2016.
Another award to have been launched was best ensemble cast, which was bagged by Marathi road movie Highway — Ek Selfie Aarpaar, which featured actors Huma Qureshi and Tisca Chopra in the frame. The film, by National Award winning filmmaker Umesh Kulkarni also won best sound design, best sound design and best editor.
The best music director award, formed in the name of the late Khemchand Prakash, went to Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for Marathi film Katyar Kaljat Ghusali.
The best debut director award went to Chennai-based Jayaprakash Radhakrishnan for his haunting drama Lens. He also won the best screenplay honour for the movie.
In the Best supporting actors category, Pallavi Joshi and Anupam Kher were awarded for Buddha In A Traffic Jam.
The best documentary went to Indian Women on Records, best short film to The Internet Affair and best costume design to Nachiket Barve for Katyar Kaljat Ghusli.