It was that evening of the year in Melbourne, when the annual awards night marked its gala presence in the cultural melting pot. 2019’s award function at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne was a special one for many reasons. Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy walked away with the top gong of Best Film honour, whereas Vijay Sethupathi won the Best Actor for his widely acclaimed film Tamil film Super Deluxe and Tabu was named Best Actress for her performance in Andhadhun.

Zoya said, “I am so excited. I am not going to forget this evening. This is my first award in the capacity of a producer. Gully Boy was our first production. This is a good start. No one makes a movie alone and this wouldn’t be possible without my producers, my co-writer, my incredible actors and every member of my cast and crew. 54 invincible artists worked on this album. I owe this night to all of them.”

Zoya Akhtar

Sriram said on his win as best director, “I am thankful and overwhelmed with the response to Andhadhun and this award. A French short film inspired this movie. It was 7 years ago and the movie took a long time to make.” Upon receiving her award, Tabu said, “It’s my first time in Australia but I will remember it for the rest of my life. Thank you Sriram for writing this for me. This character is catalyst for change of roles for women that are being written and will be written in future. Thank you for trusting me with this character”.

Sriram Raghavan and Tabu

Additionally, IFFM bestowed upon superstar Shah Rukh Khan – the  ‘Excellence In Cinema’ award.

Shah Rukh Khan giving his award acceptance speech

Shah Rukh Khan, in his usual candour, said, “Thank you all of you in Melbourne. It’s an honour and privilege for me. Awards are odd because to me an art form be judged for its quality feels counter intuitive. Art is an expression and cinema is the ability to create emotions and share experiences through stories. To be an actor, is to live to know that each one is a mere illusion. When you are making a movie you can change a lot by changing the angle of the light and it strikes you that life is a lot like that as well. It’s the simple things that can alter your journey and pondering makes your story worth telling. I shot a film here 12 years ago and it was a straightforward film about a man who has lost hope in life picks on a team of girls and then they go on to win a world championship. This city had the simplicity I had seen nowhere else. When you get older like me, you realise things. I realised that film changed my life. It’s not the awards you get, it’s just the part of creating process that is an exhilarating experience for an artiste.”

Here’s a complete list of winners:

• IFFM Best Short Film: My Name Is Mohamed And Raghad, We Don’t Exist Here Anymore by Ali Mousawi AND Be My Brother by Genevieve Clay
• IFFM Diversity Award: Onir
• Telstra People’s Choice Award: Simmba
• Celebrating 20 years of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai: Karan Johar
• IFFM Best Director: Sriram Raghavan for Andhadhun
• IFFM Best Actor: Vijay Sethupathi for Super Deluxe
• IFFM Best Actress: Tabu for Andhadhun
• IFFM Best Indie film: Bulbul Can Sing
• IFFM Best Film: Gully Boy
• PWC Equality in Cinema award an honorary award): Chuskit & Super Deluxe
• IFFM Excellence in Cinema – Shah Rukh Khan

For more news and updates from the world of showbiz stay tuned to CineBlitz!

The subject of triple talaq is not new to Bollywood. Time and again, filmmakers have dealt with this social issue faced by women in the Muslim communities. Here we check out five such films that have explored the topic on screen.

Nikaah

Nikaah (1982) movie poster

The film was a social comment on the Shariat law of divorce. The film was initially titled Talaq Talaq Talaq, but director BR Chopra had to change the title of the film to Nikaah after one of his friends pointed out that the title will dissuade Muslim families from watching a film that was propagating Talaq (divorce). Chopra changed the title to Nikaah but could not stop people from filing cases against the film.

Starring Raj Babbar, Deepak Parashar and Salma Agha — it was the story of a woman who is married to a man who does not have any time for her — resulting in an altercation that leads to the man spelling out Talaq three times to her.

Phir Ussi Mod Par

Phir Ussi Mod Par (2018) movie poster

Another Muslim social that attempted to talk of the practice of Triple Talaq. It is the story of a woman of substance and fortitude who gets duped in love facing an unjustified ‘Triple Talaq’. She raises her son against all odds only to see him subject her daughter-in-law to the same fate in a most unjustifiable manner. The woman rises to the occasion squarely meeting the daunting challenges of society and clerics to ensure that justice prevails. Directed by Lekh Tandon the film failed to impress at the box office.

Halal

Halal (2016) movie poster

The film deals with the theme of loyalty, love and the institution of marriage that is deemed to be pious by society. It is a story of human emotions, which depicts the trials and tribulations that women in our society go through. The film is about a woman whose husband divorces her so that she does not face the ire of his mother. As per the Muslim customs, the woman has to marry again and divorce the second husband if the first husband wants her back.

Directed by National Award Winner Shivaji Lotan Patil, the movie featured Chinmay Deepak Mandlekar, Priyadarshan Jadhav, Pritam Kagne, Vijay Chavan, Vimal Mhatre, Chhaya Kadam, Amol Kagne and Sanjay Sugaokar.

Code Blue

Code Blue (2019) movie poster

‘Code Blue’ refers to the life-saving emergency code and in this movie it revolves around this girl, whose story is inspired by a real-life incident. The protagonist is pushed to the limits by society’s malpractices and how she comes back and fights those evils, is what Code Blue is all about. The battle of a girl from a dead-end! Made in association with Rahat Kazmi Films, the film features Alok Nath, Rishi Bhutani, Sushmita Mukerji and Khan in lead roles.

Khan wants to use the medium of movies to bring to light the lives of women who find their lives shattered with this instant divorce practice. She says, she felt traumatised when she encountered cases of women having to endure the mistreatment and misuse of the oral talaq system. For more Bollywood news and updates, stay tuned with CineBlitz.

Arjun Kapoor is often seen headlining news and it’s not just for his films. The actor is a master of trolling. Well, sort of and his fans enjoy the friendly banter that he has on social media with his friends. His recent comment on Anil Kapoor’s latest picture brought him in the limelight again. Anil had posted a picture with the caption saying, “I could add some deep quote here but let’s be honest I just wanted to post some good looking pictures of myself.” And Arjun had something interesting to say. He wrote, “& u say I ruin ur reputation….just see this post.” Well this made us take a look at the other times he has teased his friends on their social media. Check it out:

Katrina Kaif

Katrina Kaif is one of Arjun’s favourite when it comes to making funny remarks. Recently, when Katrina posted a picture from her Mexico vacation, Arjun had a rather hilarious take on the photo. He commented, “Watch where you going, girl! Hope you didn’t walk into the pillar while posing,” as Katrina was posing next to a pillar.

View this post on Instagram

💙💚💛

A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Jul 12, 2019 at 9:18am PDT

Ranveer Singh

Arjun did not spare his Gunday co-star and best friend Ranveer Singh as well. The Gully Boy actor is known for his outlandish style and when had posted a photo wearing a colourful outfit, Arjun didn’t miss the opportunity to comment on the same. He said, ”Narangi Mausambi wala.”

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A post shared by Ranveer Singh (@ranveersingh) on Feb 8, 2019 at 12:12am PST

Parineeti Chopra

The Ishqzaade jodi is known for their online banter and Arjun is forever ready to tease Pari. So during the shooting of their film Namaste England, Arjun made sure he did it again. He posted a video where he can be seen teasing Parineeti and just because she wore a green dress, Arjun captioned the video as, “Presenting Hari – Pari the tourist photography expert !!!”

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Presenting Hari – Pari the tourist photography expert !!! @parineetichopra @namasteengland

A post shared by Arjun Kapoor (@arjunkapoor) on Jun 7, 2018 at 5:56am PDT

Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Remember Priyanka Chopra’s all-white Cannes 2019 dress. Priyanka definitely killed the look but Arjun yet again had a fun take on it. When PeeCee posted that picture on social media, Arjun couldnt resist commenting, “Surf Excel vibes.”

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@red #5BFilm

A post shared by Priyanka Chopra Jonas (@priyankachopra) on May 16, 2019 at 11:54am PDT

Aditya Roy Kapur

When Aditya Roy Kapur claimed that he is single through an Instagram post, he also was obliged with a funny comment from Arjun Kapoor. Arjun said, “Chal Jhoota.” and hinted that Aditya might actually be in a relationship.

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#thesinglelife

A post shared by @ adityaroykapur on Mar 25, 2019 at 10:39pm PDT

These were some instances that we feel Arjun was bang on with his hilarious comments. Which one was your favourite? Let us know in the comments section below. Also, stay tuned to CineBlitz for more such interesting features.