Amazon Celebrates Big Wins at Indian International Festival of Melbourne

Vidya Balan in “Sherni.” (TBC Network photo)

By R.M. VIJAYAKAR/Special to India-West

MUMBAI — Amazon Prime Video wins big at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2021. The streaming platform has issued a celebratory media release, counting their feats!

“Soorarai Pottru” has won the Best Film award, and Suriya Sivakumar was rewarded for Best Performance” (Male) for his role in the film. Manoj Bajpayee got the Best Performance in a web series (Male) for his phenomenal performance as Srikant Tiwari in Amazon Original Series “The Family Man Season 2,” while Samantha Akkineni bagged “Best Performance in a web series” (Female). The Malayalam family drama, “The Great Indian Kitchen” on Amazon Prime Video has won the recognition for “(Gender) Equality in Cinema (Feature).”

“Mirzapur Season 2” and “Sherni” have also romped in at the Festival, which 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 Indian sub-continent.

“Mirzapur Season 2” has won in the category for ‘Best Web Series,’ Vidya Balan bagged the honor for Best Performance in “Sherni.”

Sharing their excitement on the awards, an Amazon spokesperson said, “At Amazon Prime Video, it has been our goal to bring forth stories that connect, inspire, provoke thought and at the same time entertain our audiences across the world. Keeping our customers and their needs in mind; we work customer backward. The many wins at the prestigious Indian Film Festival of Melbourne are reinforcement that our efforts to create and curate for our consumers is working. It’s also 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, and at Prime Video we are happy to bring joy to the safety and comfort of consumers’ homes across the world.”

Sharing his excitement on the win, Puneet Krishna, creator, “Mirzapur Season 2” said, “I am thrilled beyond words. As a creator for “Mirzapur,” the series is extremely close to my heart. It has been an incredible experience to unfold the riveting universe of “Mirzapur” to audiences worldwide, replete with the most distinct characters, each of whom have unique nuances to portray. In the second season, we widened the canvas, and made it grittier and fiercer while upping the ante and weaving in more characters into the narrative. And it has surely worked in our favor. This recognition is reflective of the popularity of the show and its standing amongst the audience. I am thankful to Excel Entertainment and Amazon Prime Video for giving me this opportunity.”

An elated Vidya Balan remarked, “I am thrilled at receiving this award at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. “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, “It’s double the celebration for us with “Soorarai Pottru” winning the award for Best Film at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and the Best Actor award being bestowed on me. This film has been made with a lot of heart and to finally witness it getting recognized at a global platform is heartwarming and incredibly special. It’s a huge honor 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.”

As the Best Actor in a Web Series (Male), Manoj Bajpayee said, “I am superbly excited and humbled for the win at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne. As a character, Srikant Tiwari’s sense of conflict was his biggest highlight and it enabled me to explore the finer nuances of humor, drama and thrill, all rolled into one. 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 honor further. As an artiste, I am inspired and motivated to do better with every role that comes my way hereon and stay true to my craft.”

Samantha Akkineni said, “I am absolutely elated to receive this award. It was a dream come true for me to make a digital debut on Amazon Prime Video in “The Family Man Season 2,” which has captivated audiences worldwide with its gripping storyline and edge-of-the-seat thrills. 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 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne for this honor and I look forward to more of such groundbreaking roles as an actor.”