iWorld
Amazon Prime Video wins big at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2021
Mumbai: Amazon Prime Video scoops a massive win at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2021 which has announced its winners for the year. IFFM is the largest of-its-kind festival in Australia celebrating the best of Indian cinema in all its forms. The festival showcases a wide range of Indian content and encapsulates the best of entertainment from the Indian sub-continent.
Amazon Original titles like the crime drama series “Mirzapur Season 2” has won in the category for ‘best web series’, Suriya Sivakumar and Vidya Balan have bagged the honors for ‘best performances in leading roles’ for their stellar acts in “Soorarai Pottru” and “Sherni” respectively.
Post the successful second season, The Family Man ‘Srikant Tewari’ has aced his TASC yet again with Manoj Bajpayee winning the award for ‘best actor (male) in a web series’. Marking her digital debut with this espionage thriller, Samantha Akkineni won the award for ‘best actor (female) in a web series’. In addition to this, the Malayalam family drama, “The Great Indian Kitchen” has earned recognition in the category of ‘equality in cinema (feature)’.
“The many wins at the prestigious Indian Film Festival of Melbourne are a reinforcement that our efforts to create and curate for our consumers are working,” said Amazon Prime Video spokesperson. “It’s also a recognition of the hard work of the team, the entire cast and crew of our titles. The last year wasn’t an easy year for any of us, at Prime Video we are happy to bring joy to the safety and comfort of consumers’ homes across the world.”
An elated Vidya Balan remarked, “Sherni has been special for me not only for the character I got to play but because it delved into a space, lesser explored in cinema. It’s a relevant subject that needed to be told. This award is for my team. I am also thankful to the audience for all the love and this award is the icing on the cake.”
On Soorarai Pottru’s big win, lead actor and producer of the film, Suriya said, “This film has been made with a lot of heart and to finally witness it getting recognised on a global platform is heartwarming and incredibly special. It’s a huge honour for us as a team and I am thankful to Amazon Prime Video for making the film reach audiences globally and my fans for showering so much love.”
Manoj Bajpayee said, “I will always be short of words to describe the adulation The Family Man has garnered the world over and this award just scales up the honour further. As an artist, I am inspired and motivated to do better with every role that comes my way hereon and stay true to my craft.”
Samantha Akkineni shared, “The character of ‘Raji’ was one of the most layered and intense roles of my career that called for a lot of preparation and forced me to dig deep. I am thankful to Raj & DK for conceiving such a powerful female character and for being able to see me beyond the ‘cute girl’ image that many couldn’t look past. I am grateful to the jury at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for this honour and I look forward to more of such groundbreaking roles as an actor.”
iWorld
OpenAI hits back at Elon Musk’s lawsuit ahead of trial
Company calls claims “baseless” and accuses Musk of trying to disrupt a rival.
MUMBAI: When the stakes are measured in billions and egos are involved, even Silicon Valley titans can turn a courtroom into a battlefield. OpenAI has issued a sharp public response to Elon Musk’s ongoing lawsuit, accusing the billionaire of filing the case to harass a competitor rather than address genuine concerns. In a strongly worded statement shared on its official X account, OpenAI described Musk’s allegations as “baseless” and suggested the lawsuit is an attempt to disrupt the company as the case heads toward trial later this month in Oakland, California.
The response comes after Musk’s legal team recently amended the complaint, proposing that any damages potentially exceeding $150 billion should go to OpenAI’s nonprofit entity rather than to Musk personally. OpenAI questioned the timing and motive behind this change, calling it a late-stage attempt to “pretend to change his tune” on the nonprofit structure.
The company further labelled the lawsuit a “harassment campaign”, arguing that Musk’s actions are driven by personal rivalry, ego, and a desire for greater control and financial upside.
At the heart of the dispute is Musk’s claim that OpenAI has abandoned its original nonprofit mission of developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity. A co-founder who left in 2018, Musk is seeking governance changes, including the removal of CEO Sam Altman from the nonprofit board, and the return of certain financial gains linked to Altman and President Greg Brockman.
OpenAI has firmly rejected these allegations, maintaining that its current hybrid structure, a public-benefit corporation overseen by a nonprofit parent remains true to its long-term goals. The company has also previously accused Musk of anti-competitive behaviour aimed at weakening its leadership.
As the case prepares for a jury trial, this public exchange highlights the deepening rift between two of the most influential figures in the AI revolution and raises broader questions about governance, mission, and power in the fast-moving world of artificial intelligence.
In the high-stakes game of AI, it seems the real drama isn’t just inside the models, it’s playing out in courtrooms too.
