The Hindu Business Line : Lifetime achievement award for Waheeda

YESTERYEAR Hindi film actressMs Waheeda Rehman will be awarded the Lifetime Achievement award along with well-known director Mr Shakti Samata at the Third Pune International Film Festival, which will take off here this weekend.

Ms Rehman's award coincides with the seventy-fifth anniversary of film-maker and actor Guru Dutt's critically acclaimed film, Pyaasa, in which she put in a sterling performance. The third international film festival will also hold a retrospective of a selection of films made by Guru Duttduring his life time, the festival Director and film maker, Mr Jabbar Patel, said here on Tuesday.

Ms Rehman will receive the award from the Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, Mr Jaipal Reddy.

The film festival is gaining popularity with the local populace with more than a thousand delegates already signing up to view the 120 films that will be screened this time. "Over 1,800 people watched the screenings last year and what is encouraging is that the average age of the delegates is now around 22-23 which means our youngsters are now interested in meaningful films," Ms Sabina Sanghvi, Vice-Chairperson of the festival committee, said. "We expect at least three thousand delegates this time since we have increased the number of movie screening venues," she added.

The week-long festival will also feature Lawrence David Foldes' critically acclaimed award winning film Finding Homein the international cinema competition section. Interestingly, Oscar contenders, Afghanistan's Earth & Fire and India's Shwaas will be pitted against each other at the festival in the same section!

Ms Sanghvi said the festival this time includes a range of Indian and world cinema and film lovers can take their pick from Indian films like Bombay Dreams, Devral, Black Friday and American Daylight to international films like The Corporation from Canada, Summer Love from Turkey to the Horseman from Croatia and Pretty Big Feet from China. Madhur Bhandarkar of Chaandni Bar, will premiere his latest film, Page 3, during the festival.

This year's show is being partly sponsored by the Pune Municipal Corporation, which has pitched in with Rs 20 lakh from its kitty. The State Government has also come forward to institute a Rs 10-lakh cash award for the best film, and a Rs 5-lakh award for the best director, both of which have been named after film-maker Shantaram's Prabhaat.

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