Category Archives: Women/Girls (since October 30-2023

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / INDIAN AMERICAN : Maya Neelakantan: I’m representing all of India on America’s Got Talent stage

Guitarist Maya Neelakantan, who has gone viral for her America’s Got Talent audition, opens up about her dreams, representing India and friendship with legends.

For Maya Neelakantan, who is being dubbed the ‘rock goddess’ after her America’s Got Talent (season 19) audition clip went viral, fame is incidental. “I had never expected all this,” she gushes.

The young guitarist, who hails from Chennai (Tamil Nadu), feels the fusion of Indian classical music with rock and metal is “exciting and hasn’t been explored much”. “These genres are so underrated together! I want to create my own music, which is more like the AGT performance,” she shares.

The 11-year-old went on the reality show stage dressed in an embellished lehenga-kurta set, complete with traditional jewellery, and played Papa Roach’s Last Resort infused with notes of classical Carnatic music, creating an audio-visual juxtaposition. “I was representing all of India and wanted to make a place for traditional music, too. My amma helped me organise the outfit, with the earrings and everything,” says the school student.

Neelakantan, who fell in love with Carnatic music at the age of two, learns it online with Prasanna Ramaswamy (Guitar Prasanna).

Speaking about business tycoon Anand Mahindra sharing her video, she said, “I did not expect that at all. It was very nice of him to do this… I have received love and support from guitar lengends, many of whom are close friends. But for him to discover me in this way was very unexpected, and got me love from the entire country!”

Support Matters

Counting her blessings, Neelakantan says that she’s grateful for all the support she gets from her parents (Indian dad and Australian mum) and others: “I’ve received so much support from legends like Gary Holt (American guitarist), who flew all the way from Sacramento to Los Angeles to watch my AGT audition.” She enjoys good following on the internet with 15.8K followers on YouTube and 49.2K on Instagram.

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPACE : Indian-Origin Shawna Pandya on Virgin Galactic’s New Space Research Flight

Shawna Pandya, an Indian-origin physician and bioastronautics researcher, will be part of Virgin Galactic’s upcoming space research mission. This mission, a collaboration between Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), will be conducted aboard the Delta Class spaceship.

Pandya, a prominent figure in space medicine and Director of IIAS’ Space Medicine Group, joins a distinguished crew for this second research mission. The team includes Kellie Gerardi, Director of Human Spaceflight Operations at IIAS, and Norah Patten, an aeronautical engineer from Ireland. The mission follows the success of the ‘Galactic 05’ mission in November 2023, which tested novel healthcare technologies and analyzed fluid dynamics in microgravity to aid the design of future medical technologies and life-support systems.

Pandya, who has extensive experience in space research, was part of the first crew to test a commercial spacesuit in zero gravity in 2015. Her impressive record includes flying in 10 parabolic flight campaigns, amassing over 160 parabolas in micro- and reduced gravity conditions.

“We were thrilled with the results from our fluid cell experiment on ‘Galactic 05’, which demonstrated our ability to accurately predict fluid behavior in a weightless environment”, said Gerardi, reflecting on the mission’s success.

Sirisha Bandla, Virgin Galactic’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Research, emphasized the ongoing collaboration with IIAS. “We’re excited to continue our partnership with IIAS in an expanded capacity”, said Bandla, who flew on the ‘Unity 22’ spaceflight, becoming the second Indian-born woman to travel to space.

This mission highlights the growing role of Indian-origin researchers in advancing space science and technology, further solidifying international collaborations in space exploration.

source/content: siliconindia.com (headline edited)

WORLD RECORD: SPORTS: Haryana’s 8 year old weightlifter Arshiya Goswami creates world record

At the age of 8, Arshiya Goswami already has her name in the India Book of Records and the Asia Book by her weightlifting feat. Now, she has managed to break the world records in India’s Got Talent television show.

Eight-year-old Arshiya Goswami from Haryana’s Panchkula district has set a new record by breaking world records in India’s Got Talent show. She achieved the feat of 17 clean-and-jerk movements in 30 seconds by lifting 6 kg ball.

Haryana Assembly Speaker Gyanchand Gupta congratulated Arshia and felicitated her on Friday. Arshiya, a resident of Sector 29 of Panchkula, studies in Bright School in Sector 26.

Arshiya met the Speaker along with her parents and Panchkula district convenor of BJP panchayati cell, Deshraj Poshwal yesterday. The India’s Got Talent show was aired on a private television channel last Sunday. Arshiya broke the previous world record of 16 clean-and jerk movements in 30 seconds. She lifted 62 kg in dead lift, lifted 32 kg in clean-and-jerk, 26 kg in snatch, 47 kg in Scott and 32 in bench press.

The shooting of the show was held in Mumbai on July 5. Arshiya’s father Avnish Kumar Goswami runs a gym in Sector 25 and her mother Hanni Goswami is a homemaker. Arshiya said she wants to make her career in weightlifting and aims to break all the records that have been made so far in this field.

Arshiya has received weightlifting training from her father. At the age of 6, she entered her name in the India Book of Records by lifting a weight of 45 kg. In 2022, she got enlisted in the Asia Book by lifting 35.8 kg.

She said that currently she is getting trained by international weightlifter Gurmel Singh. During training, she lifts deadlift weight of 47 kg, bench press 32 kg and clean-and-jerk 32 and 26 kg.

source/content: etvbharat.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: SPORTS / FIRST INDIAN: Find out about Puja ‘The Cyclone’ Tomar , the MMA Fighter who became the ‘First Indian to win a UFC bout’

The 28-year-old MMA fighter has been an advocate for women in sports.

The MMA contest between Puja Tomar of India and Rayanne Amanda dos Santos of Brazil at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) on Sunday morning was all about jabs, crosses and kicks. Tomar made history, becoming the first Indian to win a UFC match.

Fans tuned in to see Tomar, who has earned herself the title of “Cyclone”, compete in her debut UFC match at 2.30am India time.

While it did seem like the 28-year-old from Budhana, Uttar Pradesh, was being cornered, her adrenaline got the better of her as she went into the last round screaming, “Come on, come on!” and throwing kicks at her opponent. The nerve-wracking three rounds and 15 minutes ended in a split-decision win for Tomar. The scorecard: 30-27, 27-30, 29-28.

My Kolkata lists a few milestones in Cyclone Tomar’s path to the UFC win:

National Wushu Champion

Puja began her combat sports career with wushu, where she excelled and won five national titles. Her success in wushu provided a strong foundation in striking and agility — skills she now uses in her MMA career.

Transition to MM

In 2012, Puja switched to mixed martial arts, debuting with the now-defunct Super Fight League (SFL) in India. She made an impactful start, securing a victory in her first fight, which marked the beginning of her successful career in MMA. She participated in other championships, including Matrix Fight Night and ONE Championship.

Matrix Fight Night Success

After facing four consecutive losses in ONE Championship, Puja joined Matrix Fight Night (MFN) in 2021. She won four bouts in MFN, including a title defence against Russia’s Anastasia Feofanova in July. Her resilience and performance in MFN revitalised her career.

First Indian Woman in UFC

In 2023, Puja became the first Indian woman to land a contract with UFC, the biggest MMA promotion in the world. Her win makes her the first Indian to win a UFC fight, marking a significant achievement for Indian MMA.

Advocate for women in sports

Beyond her achievements in the octagon, Tomar is a vocal advocate for women in sports. She uses her platform to inspire and encourage young girls in India to pursue their dreams in martial arts. She also takes a stand for Indians in martial arts. “I want to show the world that Indian fighters are not losers. We are going all the way up. We are not going to stop. We’ll become UFC Champion soon,” she had said in the Octagon interview.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: FASHION : Meet Santanu Das, the Kolkata-based fashion designer who crafted Payal Kapadia’s Cannes 2024 outfit

Payal, who won the Grand Prix Award for her film All We Imagine As Light at Cannes, ordered her outfit for the festival from Santanu’s artisanal clothing brand Maku Textiles.

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia carried a piece of Kolkata with her when she walked onto the stage at Cannes 2024 to receive the Grand Prix Award for All We Imagine As Light on May 25. She was wearing an outfit that was exclusively crafted for her by Kolkata-based artisanal clothing brand Maku Textiles in less than a week.

The Telegraph Online recently caught up with Maku Textiles founder-director Santanu Das, an alumni of National Institute of Design, to know the thoughts and craftsmanship that went into Payal’s outfit.

The Telegraph Online: What was your first thought when you came to know that Payal Kapadia wore an outfit designed by you to receive her Grand Prix Award at the Cannes 2024?

Santanu Das: We are part of history now. It was a very special moment. We understood her achievement is going to live forever and with that we will also be attached to her. I wrote to Payal just after I got to know about her Cannes win. It’s wonderful.

Did you know Payal Kapadia before she ordered the outfit from you? How did she come to know about Maku Textiles?

Santanu Das: No, I didn’t know her before that. Maybe that’s because I am not very social and prefer to live in a cocoon.

I don’t know how her team got in touch with me. Things happened very fast. We had to finish the outfit and deliver it in less than a week. I had to send it to Mumbai, and the last person from her team travelling to Cannes hand-carried the outfit.

Could you decode Payal’s Cannes outfit for us.

Santanu Das: We had two pieces — a jacket and a sleeveless silk dress. She wore the jacket at the screening, but it was designed in such a way that you could see the dress from the front. While collecting the award, Payal wanted to open the jacket.

When we were talking about the outfit, Payal wanted something blue and I had something black — but not very black, black. Our signature colour is indigo, so we created a different tonality of black indigo. We also considered that it could be an emotional as well as a vulnerable moment for her and that’s why I wanted her to feel guarded in our design. We talked about how the design needs to be ironed and what earrings would go with it.

Did you speak to Payal to understand how she actually wanted to present herself on the big stage?

Santanu Das: Oh, yeah, we talked a couple of times. We had a long call where we discussed how to go about the styling. We tried to understand what she generally wears and what she would feel comfortable in as we didn’t want to impose anything on her. We were very aware that she is a film director. She is from the creative world, so anything she wears must match her personality.

You are into artisanal fashion. How do you elaborate on it?

Santanu Das: It’s a segment, which isn’t open and big. This specific segment has only a handful of people coming up with handmade signature designs but in a small batch. We do everything by our hand, making it part of a sustainable network. We mix our identity with the neutral cloth to add character to it.

Your label is made in Kolkata and was founded in 2012 but your focus has always been international…

Santanu Das: Our focus has always been on international sales and curation. We want to invest in developing new things. We are present in Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, the US, Europe, France, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Stores buy our clothes and then sell them.

In Kolkata, we have an atelier-cum-factory for people who are too keen to visit. We invite them by appointment. Our team comprises 60 people. We have 200 weavers from West Bengal, and our fabric is handwoven. We do everything such as fabrication, stitching and merchandising in Kolkata.

But some people love your work in India…

Santanu Das: I don’t know if anyone in Kolkata knows about Maku Textiles. A few people in Mumbai and Delhi know about us. More than actresses, we get filmmakers, cinematographers and art directors as clients. Anvita Dutt (creator of Bulbbul, Qala) has all my saris. Meenal Agarwal (production director), Konkona Sen Sharma, Tillotama Shome and Dia Mirza wear Maku Textiles. Anushka Sharma also visited our Kolkata studio while shooting for Pari. Both Anvita and Anushka came to know about us from Meenal.

source/content: telegraphindia.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: PEACEKEEPERS: Indian Woman Peacekeeper Major Radhika Sen to receive ‘UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award’ . Who is she?

Radhika Sen served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from March 2023 to April 2024.

Indian woman peacekeeper Major Radhika Sen, who served with the UN mission in Congo, will be honoured with the prestigious military gender advocate award by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on May 30 (Thursday), marking the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.

Who is Major Radhika Sen?

  • Radhika Sen served with the United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) from March 2023 to April 2024 as the Commander of MONUSCO’s engagement platoon for the Indian rapid deployment battalion (INDRDB).
  • Major Radhika Sen joined the Indian Army eight years ago. She graduated with a degree in biotechnology engineering and was pursuing her Master’s degree at IIT Bombay when she decided to join the armed forces.
  • Sen was deployed to MONUSCO in March 2023 as the engagement platoon commander with the Indian rapid deployment battalion. She completed her tenure in April 2024. Sen is the second Indian peacekeeper to receive this prestigious award, following Major Suman Gawani, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and was honoured with the United Nations military gender advocate of the year award in 2019.
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lauded Major Sen for her service and said she was a true leader and role model. “Her service was a true credit to the United Nations as a whole,” Guterres said.
  • Reacting to the development, Major Sen said, “This award is special to me as it gives recognition to the hard work put in by all the peacekeepers working in the challenging environment of DRC and giving their best to bring a positive change in the society.”

“Gender-sensitive peacekeeping is everybody’s business – not just us, women. Peace begins with all of us in our beautiful diversity!” she added.

Created by the office of military affairs within the department for peace operations (DPO) of the UN in 2016, the United Nations military gender advocate of the year award acknowledges the dedication and efforts of an individual military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security.

The awardee is selected from among candidates nominated by force commanders and heads of mission from all peace operations. India currently ranks as the 11th largest contributor of women military peacekeepers to the United Nations.

(With inputs from PTI)

source/content: hindustantimes.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: REGIONAL: SPORTS / ATHLETICS: Asian Relay Championships: Indian Men’s and Women’s 4x400m teams win Silver Medals

Indian mixed 4×400 relay team set a national record while winning the gold medal but missed the target of entering the Paris Olympics qualification bracket.

Fielding under-strength teams after having qualified for the Paris Olympics, both the men’s and women’s 4x400m quartets finished second at the inaugural Asian Relay Championships in Bangkok on May 21.

he women’s team of Vithya Ramraj, M R Poovamma, Prachi Choudhary and Rupal Chaudhary clocked 3 minutes 33.55 seconds to finish behind Vietnam (3:30.81) in the women’s 4x400m relay final, which was conducted amid thundershowers at the Suphachalasai National Stadium. Japan won the bronze medal with 3:35.45.

Vietnam runners were ahead all through the race.

Vithya and Prachi were not part of the Indian quartet that clocked 3 minutes and 29.35 seconds to book a Paris Olympics quota during the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, Bahamas earlier this month.

Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan had teamed up with Poovamma and Rupal on that occasion.

The men’s quartet of Muhammed Anas Yahiya, Santosh Kumar, Mijo Chacko Kurian and Arokia Rajiv also failed to stand on top of the podium as they clocked 3:05.76 to finish second behind Sri Lanka (3:04.48). Vietnam was third with 3:07.37.

The Sri Lankan team was ahead after the first leg but Santosh put India in the lead in the second. Chacko kept India in the lead after the third leg but Sri Lanka’s anchor runner Hewa Kalinga Kumarge overtook Arokia at the final stretch.

Santosh and Chacko were not part of the Indian quartet that clocked 3 minutes and 3.23 seconds to book a Paris Olympics quota during the World Athletics Relays in Bahamas earlier this month.

Muhammed Ajmal and Amoj Jacob had teamed up with Muhammed Anas Yahiya and Arokia Rajiv on that occasion.

Muhammed Ajmal and Amoj Jacob had teamed up with Jyothika Sri Dandi and Subha Venkatesan for the mixed 4x400m race on Monday as India was aiming to enter the Paris Olympics bracket in that event. The quartet was the first choice members of the mixed 4x400m team and they were thus not fielded on Tuesday in the men’s and women’s relays.

On Monday, the Indian mixed 4×400 relay team set a national record while winning the gold medal but missed the target of entering the Paris Olympics qualification bracket.

The quartet of Muhammed Ajmal, Jyothika Sri Dandi, Amoj Jacob and Subha Venkatesan clocked 3 minutes 14.12 seconds to win the race. The earlier national record of 3:14.34 was clocked by the Indian team while winning silver medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.

Monday’s timing would put the Indian mixed 4x400m team at the 21st place — from earlier 23rd — in the Road to Paris list of World Athletics while the aim was to be either in the 15th or 16th spot.

India, thus, is in a difficult position to make the Olympics cut as only sixteen teams will compete in the mixed 4x400m relay event in Paris.

India’s target on Monday was to at least better 3:13.56 and sit at the 16th spot, but the country failed to do so.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / MOVIES: Cannes 2024: Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine as Light’ scripts History for India, Wins Grand Prix

The film, the story of two Kerala nurses living in Mumbai, was the first Indian film in 30 years to compete in the main competition at Cannes.

In a historic win for India, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light bagged the Grand Prix, the second-highest award at the Cannes Film Festival, on Saturday night.

The film, the story of two Kerala nurses living in contemporary Mumbai, was the first Indian film in 30 years to compete in the main competition at Cannes. It stars Indian actors Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha and Chhaya Kadam.

The jury for the 77th Cannes was presided over by Barbie director Greta Gerwig and included the illustrious likes of Lily Gladstone, Hirokazu Koreeda, Eva Green, Omar Sy, Ebru Ceylan and others.

American director Sean Baker’s Anora won the Palme d’Or, the top prize at Cannes.

The slate included Francis Ford Coppola’s Megapolis, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness, Andrea Arnold’s Bird, Jia Zhang-Ke’s Caught By the Tides amongst others.

The only Indian film to ever win the Palme d’Or — then known as Grand Prix du Festival International du Film — is Chetan Anand’s Neecha Nagar (1946). Mrinal Sen’s domestic help drama Kharij won the Jury Prize in 1983.

“Please don’t wait another 30 years to have an Indian film,” Kapadia said while accepting the honour.

In 1994, Malayalam director Shaji N Karun’s rural-set classic Swaham was the last film from India to compete for the Palme d’Or.

Kapadia, an alumnus of the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII), is best known for her acclaimed documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing, which premiered at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival’s Director’s Fortnight side-bar where it won the Oeil d’or (Golden Eye) award.

source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTURE / ACTING: Anasuya Sengupta scripts History, becomes First Indian to Win top Acting Award at Cannes 2024

Anasuya won won Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Actress for her performance in the romance-drama, The Shameless.

Anasuya Sengupta became the first Indian to win a top acting award at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday night.

Anasuya, a production designer who lives in Goa, won Un Certain Regard Prize for Best Actress for her performance in the romance-drama, The Shameless.

The film, directed and written by Bulgarian -American, self-taught filmmaker Konstantin Bojanov, revolves around Renuka, played by Anasuya who, in the dead of night, escapes from a Delhi brothel after stabbing a policeman to death. She takes refuge in a community of sex workers in northern India, where she meets Devika (Omara Shetty), a young girl condemned to a life of prostitution. Their bond develops into a forbidden romance. Together, they embark on a perilous journey to escape the law and forge their path to freedom.

Anasuya dedicated the award to “the queer community and other marginalised communities for so bravely fighting a fight they really shouldn’t have to”.

Apart from Anasuya, two Indian films Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know and Bunnyhood won the first and third place, respectively, in the La Cinef Selection at this year’s Cannes.

While Sunflowers Were the First Ones to Know is a Kannada short film, directed by Chidananda Naik, a student from Film and Television Institute of India, Bunnnyhood is directed by Mansi Maheshwari. She hails from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh and has been studying in the UK, according to a report.

source/content: newindianexpress.com (headline edited)

INTERNATIONAL: ARTS & CULTUR: Shabana Azmi to be honoured with ‘Freedom of the City of London Award’ at the UK Asian Film Festival, May 2024

On Tuesday 7th May at Somerville College, Oxford will celebrate the actress’s industry milestone following a screening at Phoenix Picturehouse of her pioneering film, Fire (1996).

Veteran Indian actress Shabana Azmi, will be honoured with the Freedom of City of London Award by the City of London Corporation, in recognition of her prolific contribution to Indian cinema and as a campaigner for women’s rights. The award presentation will be a part of the celebrations to mark her 50 years in the industry at this year’s UK Asian Film Festival – the world’s longest-running South Asian film festival outside the Subcontinent. The ceremony will take place on Friday 10th May at Guildhall, City of London.

One of the City of London’s ancient traditions, Freedom is believed to have begun in 1237 and enabled recipients to carry out their trade. As well as being nominated or applied for, the Freedom is also offered by the City of London Corporation to individuals as a way of paying tribute to their outstanding contribution to London or public life or to celebrate a very significant achievement. Other recent high-profile recipients include theatre entrepreneurs, Dame Rosemary Squire, Sir Howard Panter and Sir Cameron Mackintosh; former England and Arsenal footballer, Ian Wright; double Olympic gold medallist Tom Dean, MBE; and the UK’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty.

Boasting an illustrious career that spans over 160 films and stretches across independent, parallel and mainstream Hindi cinema as well as international projects, Azmi is the daughter of renowned poet, Kaifi Azmi, and stage actress. Shaukat Azmi. She graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1973 and made her debut with Shyam Benegal’s debut social drama Ankur in 1974, which won her the National Award for Best Actress.

Between 1983 and 1985 for three consecutive years, Azmi won the National Film Award for Best Actress for her performances in Arth, Khandhar and Paar. In subsequent years, she continued to soar to the heights of critical and commercial success, becoming one of the leading ladies of Indian parallel cinema, a new-wave movement of arthouse films recognised for their authentic and realistic storyline, treatment and sensibility.

Even when it came to mainstream films, Azmi dared to traverse beyond the glossy and stereotypical portrayals of women with impactful realistic performances in films like Masoom and Arth, pushing the boundaries further and inviting audiences to re-imagine the off-screen societal norms that dictated the on-screen representations of a housewife, mother and woman in an evolving Indian society.

Azmi is the winner of five National Film Awards and several international accolades and was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1998 and the Padma Bhushan in 2012 by the Government of India for her outstanding contribution to cinema. Unlike many of her peers who confined themselves to on-screen activism, throughout much of her life, Azmi has remained committed to fighting injustices, lending her powerful voice and on-screen persona to critical issues such as AIDS ostracism and child mortality amongst other causes. She has worked extensively with slum dwellers in Mumbai and was the President of Nivara Hakk, a housing rights NGO that provided houses for free to 50,000 people in Mumbai who were evicted from their homes. She heads the NGO, Mijwan Welfare Society (MWS), founded by her father, which works for the upliftment of rural India with a focus on the girl child and women. She has fought relentlessly against religious fundamentalism of all hues and is highly respected as a moderate, liberal Muslim voice.

Azmi’s remarkable contributions have been recognised on numerous prestigious platforms. She was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Prize at the House of Lords by Vanessa Redgrave and honoured at the Bicentennial celebrations of International Human Rights in Paris, alongside Mother Theresa, by President Mitterand of France. Additionally, Azmi received the Crystal Award at the World Economic Forum, with Mohammed Ali and Michael Douglas. She holds five Doctorates from renowned national and international universities and has been conferred with the prestigious Martin Luther King, Rosa Park, and Chavez Awards. Her recent nomination as Global Leadership Ambassador for Women in Public Service Project, initiated by Hillary Clinton, further underscores her global impact and commitment to fostering positive change. She has also been chosen by Time Magazine as one of 25 Asian heroes and is the only woman among four Indians who has made a difference.

Shabana Azmi says, “In anticipation of the esteemed Freedom of the City of London Award, I am deeply honoured. This recognition not only celebrates my contribution to cinema but also emphasises the intrinsic link between art and activism. I am humbled by this distinction and eagerly anticipate the chance to continue advocating for social causes through storytelling.”

UK Asian Film Festival Creative Director, Samir Bhamra says, “It is an honour to acknowledge the remarkable contributions of Shabana Azmi. From her pivotal role in inaugurating our festival in London to inspiring our celebration of her 50-year journey, Shabana Azmi epitomises resilience, advocacy and artistic brilliance. We stand proudly alongside her, recognising her unwavering dedication and support. Her upcoming recognition with the Freedom of the City of London award is a testament to her extraordinary achievements. UKAFF’s instrumental role in instigating this prestigious award underscores Shabana Azmi’s profound impact on the arts and society at large.”

As part of the festival programme, Celebrating The Golden Girl: Shabana Azmi on Tuesday 7th May at Somerville College, Oxford will celebrate the actress’s industry milestone following a screening at Phoenix Picturehouse of her pioneering film, Fire (India, 1996; Dir: Deepa Mehta; Language: English). The event and dinner will help raise funds to support the scholarship programme at The Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development. Continuing the festival celebrations, the actress will be in conversation onstage following screenings of some of her cult and contemporary classics: Ankur (India, 1974; Dir: Shyam Benegal; Language: Hindi with English subtitles) on Wednesday 8th May at Khalil Lecture Room, SOAS, London; Mandi (India, 1983; Dir: Shyam Benegal; Language: Hindi with English subtitles) on Thursday 9th May at Phoenix, Leicester; and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani (Idia, 2023; Dir: Karan Johar; Language: Hindi with English subtitles) on Thursday 9th May at Phoenix, Leicester.

Now in its 26th year, the UK Asian Film Festival, for which Azmi is a Patron, has historically championed South Asian female-centric cinema and women in film – both behind and in front of the camera.  Its programmes have annually sought to disrupt the patriarchal status quo and initiate challenging conversations in its mission to advocate and promote gender equality in cinema.

Running at venues across London, Leicester and Oxford from Thursday 2nd – Sunday 12th May, the UK Asian Film Festival is presented by Tongues on Fire and is supported by the BFI, awarding funds from the BFI Audience Projects Fund. UK Asian Film Festival is powered by broadcast partners, SONY TV and Lyca Radio. TV Partner for the UKAFF Short Film Competition is Shorts TV.

source/content: cineblitz.in (headline edited)