Dubai-bred girl wins top film honour in India

Dubai-bred filmmaker Anjali Menon has picked up a  award for her Malayalam feature film Ustad Hotel, at the 60th National Film Awards of India.

The 35-year-old filmmaker, who wrote the screenplay for the film, won the Best Dialogue at the 60th National Film Awards, which were announced on Monday.

“It’s such a huge honour for me. Like a typical Gulf-raised Malayali kid, I didn’t know to write in Malayalam. But I learnt how to for this film and I can’t believe I have now won the National Award for the same,” said Menon in an interview with tabloid! over phone from Calicut. She had just learnt about her National Awards win when we tracked her down.

“I still can’t believe it. I am yet to speak to director Anwar Rasheed. I have a feeling we are going to throw a big party,” said Menon.

Ustad Hotel, a tale about a twenty-something chef (Mammootty’s son Dulquer Salman) who joined hands with his grandfather (the late legendary actor Thilakan) to resurrect a beach-side restaurant, also won the Best Wholesome Entertainer at this year’s National Awards.

“Writing the story for Ustad Hotel was like going back to my roots. It even included a bit about the Gulf immigrant experience of a Keralite. Every film of mine will have an expat experience. That’s who I am,” said Menon, who dedicated the award to her entire team from Ustad Hotel.

“It calls for incredible faith ... My tip to every aspiring filmmaker in the Gulf: If I can make it so can you,” said Menon.

To get a taste of her filmmaking skills, her award-winning 2012 drama Manjadikuru will release in the UAE this weekend.

Other winners at the awards were Namrata Rao, who won the National Award for the best editor for “Kahaani”.

“I am very glad. It is very overwhelming. This is for the first time I have ever got a National Award. It is a great feeling I can’t put in words. All I can say is thank you. This was unexpected. I am very happy,” Rao told IANS.

Rao, 32, is one of the youngest editors in Bollywood.

‘Paan Singh Tomar’ was named best feature film. The Tigmanshu Dhulia-directorial also won the best actor’s trophy for Irrfan, who plays a national level athlete who went on to become one of the most dreaded dacoits of Chambal Valley.

The best actor’s trophy is shared by Vikram Gokhale for Marathi film “Anumati”, while the best actress honour went to Usha Jadhav for her performance in “Dhag”, also in Marathi.

Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra won a special mention for her performance in “Ishaqzaade” for her convincing delineation of a daredevil girl, and so did Tannishtha Chatterjee for “Dekh Indian Circus”.

“After winning so many debut awards [for the film Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl] I never thought I would win for Ishaqzaade but when I did, it was the biggest one in the country,” Chopra told tabloid!. “That too for my first lead role. I just cannot believe it. But this scares and humbles me, and will definitely make me work even harder in the future!! Thank you jury,” she said in an SMS.

The prestigious awards for 2012 were announced by filmmakers Basu Chatterjee, Aruna Raje and Swapan Mullick.

In the feature film category, a total of 38 films from 14 languages have been selected for the awards.

Hindi film “Chittagong” and Malayalam movie “101 Chodiyangal” have shared the Indira Gandhi Award for the best debut film of a director. The award for the best popular film for providing wholesome entertainment has been shared by Bollywood movie “Vicky Donor” and Malayalam project “Ustad Hotel”.

The best director accolades are for Shivaji Lotan Patil for Marathi film “Dhag”.

Best supporting actor and actress went to Annu Kapoor and Dolly Ahluwalia for “Vicky Donor”; Ahluwalia shares the award with Kalpana for Malayalam film “Thanichallanjan”.

In the best child artist category, there is a tie between Virendra Pratap for Hindi film “Dekh Indian Circus” and Minon for “101 Chodiyangal”.

The music category saw ace composer Shankar Mahadevan gets the best male playback singer award for the song “Bolo na” from the film “Chittagong”. The award for the best female playback singer was conferred on Samhita for the song “Palakein naa moon don” from the Marathi film “Aarti Anklekartikekar”.

The award for the best screenplay writer (original) has gone to Sujoy Ghosh for “Kahaani”, while in the adapted screenplay the honour has been given to Bhavesh Mandalia and Shri Umesh Shukla for the film “OMG: Oh My God!”.

The best lyrics award has gone to Prasoon Joshi for the song “Bolo na” from the film “Chittagong”.

A special jury award has been conferred on Rituparno Ghosh for Bengali film “Chitrangadha” and to Nawazuddin Siddiqui for the films “Kahaani”, “Gangs of Wasseypur”, “Dekh Indian Circus” and “Talaash”.

The award for the best choreography has been conferred on Birju Maharaj for the Tamil film “Vishwaroopam”.