Yashpal Sharma won the Best Director’s Award for a Haryanvi feature film -Dada Lakhmi in the first Himachal International Film Festival, which concluded on Sunday.
Additional Chief Secretary to HP government Onkar Sharma, chief guest in the concluding day function, gave away the prizes in the presence of film actors Akhilendra Mishra, Sanjay Mishra, Yashpal Sharma, Rajesh Jaish, Neeraj Sood, Sapna, Pihu and Gagan Pradeep, besides a large number of film producers , directors and actors .
Speaking on the occasion, Sharma said, “Organizing International Film Festival at Mandi is a great initiative, which would give impetus to tourism in Himachal and popularize the state among film makers.”
Actors Akhilendra Mishra, Rajesh Jaish and Yashpal Sharma also emphasized that Himachal should not copy anyone but make its global identity through its own stories.
During the four-day film festival about fifty films of Indian cinema were screened at Sanskriti Sadan and IIT auditorium Kamand in which films representing Himachal, Haryana and regional films in Marathi, Assamiya, Kannada, Hindi Gujarati etc, besides short movies and documentaries were also shown .
Festival Director Pawan Sharma said, “Very productive discussion on film making was held during the festival, since Himachal has vast potential for the filmmakers as the state has many actors, film makers and lovely film locations, efforts should be made to tap this potential.”
The best actor’s award in a negative role was given to Ram Bahadur Renu of Jackan Holt film, best actor award was given to Tanuj Virvaini of short film Naam Mein Kya Rakha Hai.
Best Actress’s Award for Hindi Feature Film was given to Karishma, heroine of the film -The Rabbit House; Gagan Pradeep also won the best supporting actor’s award for the film. The Rabbit House, shot in Sainj valley of Kullu district also got jury’s special mention.
Gujarati film Pravas was awarded best film among children category and child actor Vishal Thakkar of Parvas won the best actor award.
Similarly, Best Jury Special Mention was also made for short film Panchva Pratha, and its director mentioned for the screenplay of the film.
Veronica Verma won the jury’s special mention for best female actress for short film Gajara and its actor Vipin Bhardwaj was mentioned as best male actor for the film.