April issue 2012

Pakistani films were big winners at the Tongues on Fire London Asian Film Festival 2012. The annual event, in its 14th edition this year, ran in London from 14th to 24th March.

Shoaib Mansoor’s social drama Bol got the award for Best Film, beating other nominees such as Ribhu Dasgupta’s Michael and Rubaiyat Hossain’sMeherjaan. Shoaib Mansoor was also nominated for Best Director. However Italian director Italo Spinelli won in that category for his film Gangor.

Humaima Malick and Amr Kashmiri, both present for the awards ceremony held at BAFTA, won for Best Actress and Best New Talent respectively. Manzar Sehbaialso earned himself a deserved nomination for Best Actor; the award however went to Riz Ahmed, who won for his portrayal of Jai in crossover film Trishna.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, who was nominated alongside Atif Aslam in the Best Music Talent category, won for his song ‘Koi Dil Mein Aa Raha,’ which will be featured in the upcoming Pakistani film Tamanna. Director Steven Moore, and producer, Sarah Tareen, were present at the festival to show some rough cuts and music videos to the audience, for the yet unreleased film.

It was wonderful to see Pakistani cinema and its artists finally making waves and winning accolades across the globe.

This article was originally published in the April issue of Newsline under the headline “Accolades Galore.”