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Cracking the code
Braving the unusually chilly night, enthusiastic Karachiites were in full attendance at the awards ceremony of the fifth KaraFilm Festival. The highlight of the glittering ceremony at the PAF Museum on Tuesday was the attendance of President Pervez Musharraf and First Lady, Begum Sehba Musharraf.
This was the first time that the KaraFilm Festival had a chief guest. Also attending were the Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, Sindh Chief Minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim, Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rasheed, Commander 5 Corps, Lt-Gen Athar Ali and Senator Mushahid Hussain, in addition to an array of celebrities from film, television and the media including Indians Pooja Bhatt, Sudhir Mishra and Dino Morea among others.
The much-delayed ceremony was conducted by model-actress Nadia Hussain and Adnan Malik. The sea shell shaped award called Ciepie (pronounced see-pee) has been designed by Junaid Chhabbra, a graduate of the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
The awards given that night included three lifetime achievement awards. The first was given to the late comedian Rangeela, the second went to film-maker S. Suleiman and the third award to TV veteran Shakeel who was overwhelmed by the gesture and admitted that he was caught off guard as he had no clue that he would get the award when he was invited by Kara.
Anupam Kher shared the award for the best male actor in a leading role for his portrayal of a traumatized middle-aged professor in Mein Ne Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara with his Pakistani counterpart Rehan Sheikh. The latter portrayed a desperate young man who makes a bargain with a documentary film director by allowing her to capture his life before he commits suicide in the film 24 Ghantay (24 Hours) directed by Shahid Shafaat.
Some other outstanding award winners were Nagesh Kukunoor (best director, Iqbal), Shweta Prasad (best female actor in a supporting role, Iqbal) and Sudhir Mishra, Ruchi Narain and Shivkumar Subramaniam (best original screenplay, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi).
Of the three lifetime achievement awards, the first was given to the late comedian Rangeela, the second to film-maker S. Suleiman and the third award to TV veteran Shakeel who was overwhelmed by the gesture and admitted that he was caught completely off-guard
I for India (by the UK-based Sandhya Suri) won the best documentary award while the German entry Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei (The Edukators) walked away with two awards.
The biggest winner of the evening was the Irani film Gilaneh which won the award for best feature film and best female actor in a leading role. Actress Fatemeh Motamed-arya was present on the occasion to receive the awards, one of which was given away by President Musharraf. Two special awards were also given to the friends of KaraFilm, namely Samina Peerzada and Hameed Haroon. A much-deserved special award was announced for Kara volunteer Umar Mughni who drowned saving the life of a child. The award was collected by his father, Col (retd) Abdul Mughni who was overwhelmed by the gesture and said that he was extremely proud of his son and salutes his bravery.
The awards’ night also saw performances by musical group Areeb, Islamabad-based band Siege, dance performance featuring a medley of short dance numbers and Fuzon concluding the performances. However, some of them were riddled by electricity and sound problems but still managed to pull through.
In his address to the gathering, President Musharraf said that it was a pleasure and unique privilege for him to be among the artiste community. He offered his support to the KaraFilm Festival and promised to do whatever is needed to facilitate the revival of the film industry in Pakistan. In particular, he lamented the fact that the last two decades had seen film, culture and the performing arts marginalized because of the perception that they clash with religion and the national identity. He acknowledged that even though the presidency has been supportive to the KaraFilm Festival over the last four years, it was not enough and declared that the support would be strong and unequivocal from now on.He thanked the international delegates and film-makers for their participation, particularly the Indian guests for coming to Pakistan. He hoped Pakistan and India could resolve all their disputes quickly so that more interaction could take place between the artistes of the two countries.
Earlier, festival director Hasan Zaidi thanked the president for sending out a clear signal to the outside world through his presence there that the government of Pakistan no longer marginalizes films and considers culture and the arts just as important.
And the Ciepie goes to ...
Best live action short: Vorletzter Abscheid (Before I Go) by Heiko Hahn/Germany
Best animated short: Ku Ku by Rimantas Lukavicius/Lithuania Little Dog Turpie by Ben Mars/UK
Best documentary: I for India by Sandhya Suri/UK-Italy-Germany
Best male actor in a leading role: Anupam Kher for Mein Ne Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara/India
Rehan Sheikh for 24 Ghantay/Pakistan
Best female actor in a leading role: Fatemeh Motamed-arya for Gilaneh/Iran
Best male actor in a supporting role: Burghart Klaussner for Die Fetten Jahre Sind Vorbei (The Edukators)/Germany
Best female actor in a supporting role: Shweta Prasad for Iqbal/India
Best cinematography: Roman Osin for Pride and Prejudice/UK
Best editing: Tobias Haas for Kebab Connection/Germany
Best musical score: Dario Marianelli for Pride and Prejudice/UK
Best original screenplay: Sudhir Mishra, Ruchi Narain, Shivkumar Subramaniam for Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi
(A Thousand Dreams Such As These)/India
Best direction: Nagesh Kukunoor for Iqbal/India
Best feature: Gilaneh by Rakhshan Bani Etemad/Iran
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