Portal:Film

Vidya Balan is an Indian actress known for her work in Hindi films. She made her acting debut in 1995 with the sitcom Hum Paanch, following which she made several unsuccessful attempts at a film career. Vidya then appeared in music videos for Euphoria, Pankaj Udhas, and Shubha Mudgal all directed by Pradeep Sarkar. She had her first film release with a leading role in Goutam Halder's Bengali film Bhalo Theko (2003). In 2005, she played the heroine in Sarkar's Parineeta, an adaptation of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novel of the same name. Vidya won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the film. Rajkumar Hirani's Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), a successful comedy sequel, saw her play a radio jockey opposite Sanjay Dutt.

Vidya had five releases in 2007. She played a variety of roles in them, including a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis in Mani Ratnam's semi-biographical drama Guru, a single mother in the comedy Heyy Babyy, and a dissociative identity disorder patient in the psychological thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa. All three films were commercially successful and established her as a leading lady. The following year, she starred opposite Ajay Devgan in the drama Halla Bol (2008) and Shahid Kapoor in the romantic comedy Kismat Konnection (2008), but both failed to find a wide audience. (Full article...)

Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language thriller-drama film directed by Dileesh Pothan. The film stars Fahadh Faasil, Suraj Venjaramoodu,Nimisha Sajayan, Alencier Ley Lopez, Vettukili Prakash, and Sibi Thomas. It was written by Sajeev Pazhoor along with Syam Pushkaran who was also creative director. Bijibal composed the music while Rajeev Ravi handled the cinematography.

Produced on a budget of ₹65 million, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum was released on 30 June 2017 and grossed ₹175 million in Kerala. The film was cited as one of the "Top 5 Malayalam movies in 2017" and "The 25 best Malayalam films of the decade" by The Hindu. The film garnered awards and nominations in several categories, with particular praise for its direction, screenplay and Fahadh's performance. The film won 36 awards from 45 nominations. (Full article...)

The 86th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2013 and took place on March 2, 2014, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. The ceremony was scheduled well after its usual late-February date to avoid conflicting with the 2014 Winter Olympics. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony was televised in the United States by ABC, and produced by Neil Meron and Craig Zadan and directed by Hamish Hamilton. Actress Ellen DeGeneres hosted the show for the second time, having previously hosted the 79th ceremony held in 2007.

In related events, the academy held its 5th annual Governors Awards ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Hollywood and Highland Center on November 16, 2013. On February 15, 2014, in a ceremony at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by hosts Kristen Bell and Michael B. Jordan. (Full article...)

The 79th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2006 and took place February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST / 8:30 p.m. EST. During the ceremony, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 24 categories. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Laura Ziskin and directed by Louis J. Horvitz. Actress Ellen DeGeneres hosted for the first time. Two weeks earlier in a ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California held on February 10, the Academy Awards for Technical Achievement were presented by host Maggie Gyllenhaal.

The Departed won four awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Pan's Labyrinth with three awards, Dreamgirls, An Inconvenient Truth, and Little Miss Sunshine with two, and Babel, The Blood of Yingzhou District, The Danish Poet, Happy Feet, The Last King of Scotland, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Lives of Others, Marie Antoinette, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, The Queen, and West Bank Story with one. The telecast garnered nearly 40 million viewers in the United States. (Full article...)

Akshay Kumar is an Indian actor, television presenter, and film producer who works in Hindi-language films. He had a minor role in the 1987 Indian film Aaj. He debuted in a leading role with the film Saugandh (1991) before his breakthrough with Khiladi (1992), first film of the Khiladi series. In 1994, Kumar featured in 14 releases, including the successful Elaan, Mohra, Main Khiladi Tu Anari, Suhaag and the romantic drama Yeh Dillagi, which earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination. He also found success with Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996) and Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), which earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. However, several other of his 1990s releases performed poorly at the box office, leading to a brief setback in his film career.

The 1999 hit crime drama Jaanwar marked Kumar's comeback. His next films Hera Pheri (2000), Dhadkan (2000) and Ajnabee (2001) were well received. He played a negative role in the latter, winning the Filmfare Best Villain Award and then appeared in Andaaz (2003), Aitraaz (2004), Khakee (2004) and Waqt (2005). In this period, Kumar also proved himself as a great comic actor when he featured in financially successful comedies like Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Bhagam Bhag (2006), Phir Hera Pheri (2006), Namastey London (2007), Heyy Babyy (2007), Welcome (2007), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), Singh Is Kinng (2008), Housefull (2010) and Tees Maar Khan (2010). He won the Filmfare Best Comedian Award for Garam Masala. In 2004, he presented the television series Seven Deadly Arts with Akshay Kumar. In 2008, he founded the Hari Om Entertainment production company, and hosted the first season of the reality game show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi. Next year he was honoured with the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the Indian film industry. Kumar hosted the first season of MasterChef India in 2010. In 2011 he founded another production company Grazing Goat Pictures, and produced the Indo-Canadian hockey-based film Breakaway, which became the highest grossing cross-cultural film at the Canadian box office. (Full article...)

The 29th Golden Raspberry Awards, or Razzies, ceremony was held by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation to identify the worst films the film industry had to offer in 2008, according to votes from members of the Golden Raspberry Foundation. Razzies co-founder John J. B. Wilson has stated that the intent of the awards is "to be funny." The ceremony was held at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 21, 2009. Nominations were announced on January 21, 2009. The Love Guru was the most nominated film of 2008, with seven. Award results were based on votes from approximately 650 journalists, cinema fans and film professionals from 20 countries. Awards were presented by John Wilson, the ceremony's founder. The Love Guru received the most awards, winning Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. Paris Hilton received three awards, including Worst Actress for her work in The Hottie & the Nottie and Worst Supporting Actress for Repo! The Genetic Opera. Hilton matched the record number of awards received by an actor in a single year, set by Eddie Murphy the previous year at the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards for his roles in Norbit.

Pierce Brosnan received Worst Supporting Actor for his role in Mamma Mia!, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull received the award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel. Uwe Boll received the Worst Director award for the films 1968 Tunnel Rats, In the Name of the King and Postal, and also received a special award for Worst Career Achievement. (Full article...)

Atonement is a 2007 British romantic World War II film directed by Joe Wright. Christopher Hampton adapted the screenplay from the eponymous novel by Ian McEwan. The film focuses on fictional lovers Cecilia (Keira Knightley) and Robbie (James McAvoy), whose lives are ruined when Cecilia's younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), falsely accuses Robbie of a serious crime. The film opened the 64th Venice International Film Festival on 29 August 2007 and competed for the Golden Lion. The following month it screened at the Vancouver International Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Atonement was released in the United Kingdom by Universal Studios on 7 September 2007. It was then released in the United States by Focus Features on 7 December 2007. The film earned over £84 million in its combined total gross at the box office.

Atonement earned many awards and nominations in categories ranging from recognition of the film itself to Hampton's screenplay and the cast's acting performances, particularly those of Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Saoirse Ronan. The film received seven Academy Award nominations and came away with one award for Best Original Score. The Alliance of Women Film Journalists awarded Atonement two accolades from six nominations, while the American Society of Cinematographers and the Art Directors Guild gave the film one nomination apiece. Atonement gathered fourteen nominations at the 61st British Academy Film Awards, the most of any film that year, but ultimately came away with two awards. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey received a nomination for his work from the British Society of Cinematographers and costume designer, Jacqueline Durran, earned a nomination from the Costume Designers Guild. Atonement won three accolades out of five nominations at the 13th Empire Awards. (Full article...)

The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Documentary is an annual award that honors documentaries for excellence in the treatment of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) individuals, history, and themes. It is one of several categories of the annual GLAAD Media Awards, which are presented by GLAAD—an American non-governmental media monitoring organization—at ceremonies held primarily in New York City and Los Angeles between March and May.

The award is one of the few to date back to the 1st GLAAD Media Awards in 1990, where it was given to Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. While no documentary was recognized in 1991 or 1993, the award has been present at every ceremony since the 5th GLAAD Media Awards in 1994. It has been jointly awarded on three occasions, having been given to two documentaries in 1995 and 2014, and three in 1996, when Ballot Measure 9, The Celluloid Closet, and The Question of Equality were all recognized. (Full article...)

David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, painter, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound design. Indeed, the surreal and in many cases violent elements to his films have earned them the reputation that they "disturb, offend or mystify" their audiences.

Lynch's oeuvre encompasses work in both cinema and television. His films include The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, The Straight Story, and perhaps his most critically successful film, 2001's Mulholland Drive; whilst his television debut, Twin Peaks, earned five Emmy Award nominations for its first season. (Full article...)

Anushka Shetty is an Indian actress who appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She made her acting debut in Puri Jagannadh's 2005 Telugu film Super, and appeared in Mahanandi, released later the same year. The following year, she had four releases, the first being S. S. Rajamouli's Vikramarkudu, which helped her gain recognition, followed by Astram (a remake of the 1999 Hindi film Sarfarosh), the Sundar C.-directed Rendu, (which marked her debut in Tamil cinema), and a special appearance in AR Murugadoss' Telugu film Stalin. She had two releases in 2007: Lakshyam and Don. In 2008, she appeared in six films, including Okka Magaadu, Swagatam and Souryam. In 2009, Shetty played two roles in the fantasy Arundhati. She went on to win the Nandi Special Jury Award and the Filmfare Best Telugu Actress Award for this film. Her next release that year was Billa, a Telugu remake of the 2007 Tamil film of the same name. Her final release in 2009 was her second Tamil feature film, the masala film Vettaikaaran, where she appeared as a medical student.

Shetty had a string of releases in 2010. She portrayed a prostitute in Krish's Vedam, which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Telugu Actress. Despite critical acclaim, the film failed at the box office. None of her other releases in 2010 succeeded commercially, except for her sole Tamil release of the year, the masala Singam. The following year, Anushka had two releases, both in Tamil. She reprised her Vedam role in its remake Vaanam, then appeared as an advocate in the A. L. Vijay-directed Deiva Thirumagal, a loose adaptation of the American film I Am Sam (2001). The following year, she also had two releases: Thaandavam in Tamil, and Damarukam in Telugu. Her first release in 2013 was Suraj's Tamil masala Alex Pandian, a critical and commercial failure. This was followed by Mirchi in Telugu, Singam II (where she reprised her role from Singam), and Selvaraghavan's Tamil romantic fantasy Irandaam Ulagam where she played three distinct roles. Her sole release of 2014 was K. S. Ravikumar's Lingaa. (Full article...)