Rajaram Rajendran’s ‘Rani Rani Rani’ and Sandeep Kumar’s ‘Mehrunisa’ win Best Feature awards
‘Sheer Qorma’ by Director Faraz Arif Ansari won the Best of Fest awards at the 7th annual DFW South Asian Film Festival and the 3rd annual NYC South Asian Film Festival.
Ansari and Divya Datta also won the Best Director and Best Actor awards for ‘Sheer Qorma’ at the twin in-person film festivals, both presented by Toyota Motor North America over past two weekends in October.
‘Rani Rani Rani’ by Rajaram Rajendran won the Best Feature award at the DFW South Asian Film Festival, while ‘Mehrunisa’ by Sandeep Kumar won the top honors at the NYC South Asian Film Festival.
More than 2000 cinephiles watched 23 shorts, documentaries and feature films that made their world, international or Texas/NYC premieres at the curated, sister festivals, produced by Jingo Ventures, an events management and PR company with offices in Texas, New York and India, according to a media release.
“We are elated that people came back to the theaters, where all Covid guidelines were followed, and experienced the magic of the movies the way it was intended,” said Founder and Festivals Director Jitin Hingorani.
Read: ‘Raahgir’ wins Best Feature Film award at Wheaton Summerfest (September 1, 2021)
“Our eclectic and thought-provoking programming clearly resonated with our audiences, as they left feeling engaged, entertained and inspired.”
Virtual SAFF, the online component of the sister festivals presented by Toyota Motor North America and supported by AARP, is taking place through Oct. 31 for audiences all over North America on the Movie Saints platform.
The digital festival showcases 10 feature films, four documentaries and 21 short films. To watch, click Here.
DFW South Asian Film Festival Winners:
Best Feature – ‘Rani Rani Rani’ by Rajaram Rajendran
Best Actor – Sachin Bhatt for ‘Saving Chintu’
Best Actress – Sophia Ali for ‘India Sweets & Spices’
Best Director – Gaurav Madan for ‘Barah By Barah’
Best Short – ‘Khisa’ by Raj More
Best Long Form Short – ‘Keep Punching’ by Kirnay Bhatt
Best of Fest
Film – ‘Sheer Qorma’ by Faraz Arif Ansari
Actor – Divya Datta for ‘Sheer Qorma’
Jury: Rupak Ginn, Mindy Raymond Benson, Arshad Khan, Mahesh Pailoor, Viveck Vaswani and Sandeep Modi
NYC South Asian Film Festival Winners:
Best Feature – ‘Mehrunisa’ by Sandeep Kumar
Best Actor – Ritesh Rajan for ‘Definition Pleas’
Best Actress – Late Farrukh Jaffar for ‘Mehrunisa’
Best Director – Geeta Malik for ‘India Sweets & Spices’
Best Short – ‘Barefoot Empres’ by Vikas Khanna
Best Long Form Short – ‘Laali’ by Abhiroop Das
Best of Fest:
Director – Faraz Arif Ansari for ‘Sheer Qorma’
Actor – Divya Datta for ‘Sheer Qorma’
Social Impact Award – ‘Womb’ by Ajitesh Sharma and produced by Apoorva Bakshi & Juliet Blake
Lifetime Achievement Award – Asha Puthli for her contributions to music & film
Jury: Katy Drake Bettner, Dylan Mohan Gray, Aroon Shivdasani, Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla, Anjul Nigam and Cynthia Kane