R Verman

India], May 14 : After a successful run at Cannes 2022, where India was the country of honour, this year India will showcase cultural might at the French Riviera.Minister for State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan will be leading the Indian delegation to this year's Cannes Film Festival. Interestingly, Murugan will be wearing his traditional Tamilian outfit 'veshti' on the red carpet.Last year when India had a series of celebrities on the red carpet, this time around too Oscar award-winning Indian filmmaker Guneet Monga of 'The Elephant Whisperers' fame, Ms Manushi Chillar, Indian actress, model and the winner of the Miss World 2017, Ms Esha Gupta - acclaimed actress of the Indian Cinema and Kangabam Tomba - acclaimed Manipuri actor would walk the red carpet.Four Indian films have made it to the official selection at Cannes Film Festival. Kanu Behl's 'Agra' will be his second film to have its world premiere at Cannes, at the Directors' Fortnight. His 2014 debut film, 'Titli', was unveiled at the 'Un Certain Regard' section.Anurag Kashyap's 'Kennedy' is being screened in Midnight Screenings and Nehemich in the La Cinef section of the Festival de Cannes. Apart from these, many Indian films are slotted for being screened in Marche du Films.A restored Manipuri film 'Ishanhou' will be showcased in the 'Classics' section. The movie was previously played in the festival's 'Un Certain Regard' section in 1991 and its film reels were preserved by the National Film Archive of India. The Manipur State Film Development Society got the film restored through the Film Heritage Foundation and Prasad Film Labs.India will continue its push for being the content hub of the world, and a one-stop destination from conceiving to making films to also doing post-production including graphics and animation and other modern techniques and tools. This was envisaged in a huge way by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Anurag Singh Thakur during his visit to the festival last year.A special focus this year will continue to be on India's culture and heritage at the India Pavilion. The theme for this year's Pavilion is based on the goddess of knowledge, Saraswati, designed by the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad with the theme - 'Showcasing India's Creative Economy' to the global community.The pavilion design has been inspired by the Saraswati Yantra, the abstract representation of the goddess Saraswati, keeper of knowledge, music, art, speech, wisdom and learning.The colours of the pavilion draw inspiration from the vibrant colours of India's national flag - saffron, white, green, and blue.Saffron for the strength and courage of the country, white for inner peace and truth, green for showcasing fertility, growth, and auspiciousness of the land, and blue for the law of dharma and truth.India has a huge reservoir of talent and the Indian Pavilion will provide the platform to the Indian Film community to sign distribution deals, greenlight scripts, crack production collaborations and simply network with the world's major entertainment and media players.Among the top highlight of last year's festival was the premiere of R Madhavan's Film 'Rocketry'.Anurag Thakur who will not be present physically at the festival will be delivering a message via video for this year's festival.

The quintessential aam aadmi and voice of the masses, Pankaj Tripathi has given life to iconic characters on screen that will forever remain etched in the audience's mind. Known for his versatile and effortless performances across various platforms, he has carved a niche for himself in the entertainment industry. He is at the forefront of the new wave of content-driven cinema in India, which is realistic, differentiated, compelling and powerful. The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne has always celebrated diversity through cinema, and it comes as no surprise that this year, they have honored Pankaj Tripathi with the Diversity in Cinema award. This award is for artists who have left an indelible mark in the industry through their different roles, across all formats portraying incredible versatility with their varied performances. Some of the previous recipients of this award are Frieda Pinto, Fawad Khan, Onir amongst others.Pankaj is the king of keeping characters and performances real and modest and it is this quality that makes him a performer extraordinaire. He has made his presence reverberated in films as well as web series. He has also been nominated for the Best Performance (Male) in the film category for Ludo and for the Best Performance (Male) in Web series for Mirzapur S2. His short film Laali has also made it to the festival this year.Speaking about the award, Pankaj says, My intent is to perform to the best of my capabilities, and I am so grateful that my performances are appreciated by the audience. I am truly honoured and equally humbled to receive this award and it makes me very happy that such a prestigious film festival has recognised my work.The festivals director Mitu Bhowmick Lange adds, We at IFFM are elated to present one of our highest awards to the prolific actor, Pankaj Tripathi. With his acting prowess and unsurpassed talent, he makes every character riveting. IFFM has always stood for diversity through cinema and Pankaj Tripathi is an embodiment of the same. He plays diverse roles with such finesse making him perfect for this award.The Diversity in Cinema award will be presented by the eminent Anurag Kashyap. He had directed one of the most important films of Pankaj Tripathis career Gangs of Wasseypur which put him on the map and changed the course of his cinematic journey. Anurag will be presenting the award in the presence of the Victorian Governor who will be the host of the evening.

Updated: Jul 30, 2021 - 2:37 PM IST Actor Manoj Bajpayee laughed aside comedian Sunil Pal's recent insults and advised him to try meditation. Sunil recently referred to Manoj as a "badtameez" and a "gira hua aadmi" (fallen guy). Sunil even compared Manoj's hit show The Family Man as "porn."Manoj Bajpayee chuckled for over a minute when asked about Sunil Pal's comments and said he understands people don't have work. He understands totally because he has been in this circumstance. However, people should meditate in these situations.Despite obtaining top honors in the country, Sunil claims Manoj is involved in producing porn'-like stuff. He was critical of the plot of The Family Man's second season, specifically Priyamani's character Suchi's suggested affair with her coworker, the relationship track of the "minor" daughter, and the son's "behaving older than his age.On the work front, Manoj will soon be seen alongside Neena Gupta and Sakshi Tanwar in the Zee5 original Dial 100. On August 6, the film will be released on the streaming service.