<p> Bollywood actors Sonam Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui bagged the best actress and best actor awards at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2016.<br /><br /></p>.<p>While Sonam, 31, was awarded for her performance in Neerja Bhanot's biopic, "Neerja," Nawazuddin won the award for his role of psycho serial killer in "Raman Raghav 2.0".<br /><br />Expressing his delight over the award, Nawazuddin said "I am thankful for considering me for this award."<br /><br />Other nominees in best male performance were Ranveer Singh for "Bajirao Mastaani," Shah Rukh Khan for "Fan" and Manoj Bajpai for "Aligargh."<br /><br />Sonam dedicated her award to the Bhanot family.<br />"I am very lucky to be up here...This is a real story about a women who is only 23 years old. I want to thank Bhanot family specially the mother who passed away... Its a film about compassion more than anything else," she said.<br /><br />Filmmaker Shakun Batra's "Kapoor and Sons" and Leena Yadav's "Parched" also scooped the top awards.<br /><br />Batra's directorial venture won the best film award and Yadav's film lead the best indie film category. She also bagged the best director award.<br /><br />Pakistani actor Fawad Khan was given a special diversity award by the state special minister Gavin Jennings.<br /><br />Rishi Kapoor was honoured with the lifetime achievement award for excellence in cinema.<br />Expressing his happiness to receive the award, Rishi reminisced when his father Raj Kapoor thought of casting him as his younger version in "Mera Naam Joker".<br /><br />"I remember when my father asked my mom...I went to my room and took out a paper and started practising my autographs," he recalled and added that he came from a family which gave 88 years to the Indian cinema out of 104 years.<br /><br />"We are very grateful to people like you who have extended our legacy," he added.<br />The 63-year-old actor said though being a member of Kapoor family made it easy for him to get into film, it was his hardwork that made him sustain.<br /><br />"It is very difficult.I was just not Raj Kapoor's son I have given lot of blood, sweat and tears to it," he said.<br /><br />The star studded gala event that was held last night at the Melbourne Recital Centerer saw special performances by Pakistani singer-songwriter, Sara Haider, Shalmali Kholgade, Suzanne D'Mello, and other notable local performers.<br /><br />Veteran actress Simi Grewal, Neetu Singh, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Richa Chadha, Indian high commissioner Navdeep Suri, Consul General Manika Jain were also present at the occasion.<br /><br />This year, the festival has screened a variety of films, features, shorts and documentaries in 17 languages. Around 50 films are shortlisted for the festival.<br /><br />The theme for this edition is 'Women Empowerment'. "Angry India Goddesses," will bring the curtains down for the festival on August 21. <br /></p>
<p> Bollywood actors Sonam Kapoor and Nawazuddin Siddiqui bagged the best actress and best actor awards at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2016.<br /><br /></p>.<p>While Sonam, 31, was awarded for her performance in Neerja Bhanot's biopic, "Neerja," Nawazuddin won the award for his role of psycho serial killer in "Raman Raghav 2.0".<br /><br />Expressing his delight over the award, Nawazuddin said "I am thankful for considering me for this award."<br /><br />Other nominees in best male performance were Ranveer Singh for "Bajirao Mastaani," Shah Rukh Khan for "Fan" and Manoj Bajpai for "Aligargh."<br /><br />Sonam dedicated her award to the Bhanot family.<br />"I am very lucky to be up here...This is a real story about a women who is only 23 years old. I want to thank Bhanot family specially the mother who passed away... Its a film about compassion more than anything else," she said.<br /><br />Filmmaker Shakun Batra's "Kapoor and Sons" and Leena Yadav's "Parched" also scooped the top awards.<br /><br />Batra's directorial venture won the best film award and Yadav's film lead the best indie film category. She also bagged the best director award.<br /><br />Pakistani actor Fawad Khan was given a special diversity award by the state special minister Gavin Jennings.<br /><br />Rishi Kapoor was honoured with the lifetime achievement award for excellence in cinema.<br />Expressing his happiness to receive the award, Rishi reminisced when his father Raj Kapoor thought of casting him as his younger version in "Mera Naam Joker".<br /><br />"I remember when my father asked my mom...I went to my room and took out a paper and started practising my autographs," he recalled and added that he came from a family which gave 88 years to the Indian cinema out of 104 years.<br /><br />"We are very grateful to people like you who have extended our legacy," he added.<br />The 63-year-old actor said though being a member of Kapoor family made it easy for him to get into film, it was his hardwork that made him sustain.<br /><br />"It is very difficult.I was just not Raj Kapoor's son I have given lot of blood, sweat and tears to it," he said.<br /><br />The star studded gala event that was held last night at the Melbourne Recital Centerer saw special performances by Pakistani singer-songwriter, Sara Haider, Shalmali Kholgade, Suzanne D'Mello, and other notable local performers.<br /><br />Veteran actress Simi Grewal, Neetu Singh, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Richa Chadha, Indian high commissioner Navdeep Suri, Consul General Manika Jain were also present at the occasion.<br /><br />This year, the festival has screened a variety of films, features, shorts and documentaries in 17 languages. Around 50 films are shortlisted for the festival.<br /><br />The theme for this edition is 'Women Empowerment'. "Angry India Goddesses," will bring the curtains down for the festival on August 21. <br /></p>