Hindi
Japan tops awards tally at 3rd AFA
Hong Kong: During Hong Kong’s 100th year of movie making, Japanese films walked away with awards in five of the 13 categories at the 3rd Asian Film Awards organised by the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society.
Tokyo Sonata, a story that portrays the breakdown of a Japanese family after its patriarch loses his job at a prominent company, was awarded Best film.
Tokyo Sonata also received the best screenwriter award for its screenwriter trio of Kurosawa Kiyoshi, Max Mannix and Tanaka Sachiko from Japan, The Netherlands and Hong Kong respectively.
Hirokazu won the best director award for his Still Walking, a film about a family commemorating the drowning of one of its family members.
Oscar award winning film (Best foreign language film) Departures lead star Motoki Masahiro was awarded Best Actor for his performance in the film. In the film Motoki plays a cellist who works in a funeral parlor business after his orchestra is dissolved. India’s Akhsay Kumar was among the nominees for this category for his performance in the Hindi super-hit film Singh is Kinng.
Japan’s Hisaishi Joe won the award for the best composer for his music composition for Ponyo on the Cliff. India’s AR Rahman composition for Jodha Akbar among other’s had also been nominated for this category.
Zhou Xun won the best actress award for the mainland Chinese film The Equation of Love and Death. India’s Deepika Podukone was also in the reckoning for this category for her performance in Chandni Chowk to China.
India’s Nitin Chandrasekhar was one of the nominees for best production designer award for Jodha Akbar. The award was won by Daniel Yan-kong Lee for Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon.
The Nielsen Box Office award was conferred on India’s Priyanka Chopra. The Edward Yang New Talent Award was conferred on Taiwanese director Wei Te-Sheng. Hong Kong director Tsui Hark and his wife Shi Nansun were presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Asia Cinema award.
Awards for the other categories went to: Best Newcomer – Mainland China’s Yu Shaoqun (Forever Enthralled); Best Supporting Actor – South Korean Jung Woo-sung (The Good, the Bad, the Weird); Best Supporting Actress – Filipino Gina Pareno (Service);Best Cinematographer Europe’s Jola Dylewska (Tulpan) ; Best Editor South Korea’s Kim Sun-min (The Chaser);Best Visual Effects – Craig Hayes from the Chinese mainland (Red Cliff).
The award ceremony was held at Hong Kong yesterday. Michelle Yeoh was the president of the jury that decided the awards.
The glittering ceremony was hosted by VJ and MC Derek Li, Monaco born Hong Kong’s top model Lisa S and character actor Terence Yin. The awards ceremony was tastefully interspaced with audio visuals and performances by Justin Lo and Alan, among others.
Hindi
Marico founder Harsh Mariwala’s book Harsh Realities set for film adaptation
Almighty Motion Picture taps Karan Vyas to script Marico story
MUMBAI: Almighty Motion Picture is turning its lens on India Inc., with plans to adapt Harsh Realities: The Making of Marico into a screen project. The story charts the rise of Harsh Mariwala, the chairman and founder of Marico, and is currently in early development, according to a report by Variety.
Writer Karan Vyas, known for his work on Scam 1992, Scoop and Made in India – A Titan Story, is attached to pen the screenplay. The project continues the studio’s growing interest in real-life Indian narratives that blend business with human drama.
At the heart of the story lies a defining moment in 1987, when Mariwala chose to step away from the family-run Bombay Oil Industries and strike out on his own. What followed was not just the creation of a company, but the reinvention of a legacy. Marico would go on to become a global FMCG player, with brands like Parachute, Saffola, Set Wet and Livon becoming household names, reaching nearly one in three Indians.
The source material, co-authored by Mariwala and renowned business strategist Ram Charan, offers more than a boardroom chronicle. It captures the grit behind the growth, the risks behind the rewards and the leadership lessons forged along the way.
The adaptation aims to move beyond balance sheets and brand milestones, focusing instead on the person behind the enterprise. Expect a narrative that leans into the emotional stakes of entrepreneurship, where decisions are as personal as they are professional.
Today, Marico draws about a quarter of its revenue from international markets across Asia and Africa, reflecting its steady transformation from a domestic player into a multinational force. Yet, if the makers have their way, the screen version will remind audiences that every global success story begins with a leap of faith.
With development set to begin soon, this is one business story that may just trade spreadsheets for storytelling, and profit margins for moments that linger
