Malayalam film "Bhayanakam" wins best cinematography award at Beijing International Film Festival
Beijing, Apr 20: Malayalam film "Bhayanakam" (Fear) directed by Jayaraj won the best cinematography award at the Beijing International Film Festival on Saturday.
The cinematography was done by Nikihil S Praveen.
The film had also won the best cinematography award at the 65th National Film Awards.
Both Jayaraj and lead actor, writer and journalist Renji Panicker who attended the festival received the award.
The film portrays the visits of first World War veteran to a small village in the backwaters of Kerala's Kuttanand as a postman during the World War-II. He shares with the families the good and bad news of the soldiers who took part in the war.
According to Jayaraj, about 600 soldiers from Kerala died during the World War-II.
Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Zero" was screened at the end of the festival.
Shah Rukh, who made his maiden visit to China on April 17, took part in the festival, specially in the "China-India Film Cooperation Dialogue" along with film director Kabir Khan.
The festival also screened five Indian films, including Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali", "Apur Sansar", "Aparajito", the romantic comedy "Love Per Square Foot", the 2018 Indian romantic comedy and the thriller "Ittefaq".
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
