Five Bengali films from India, along with big time directors and playback musicians, will vie for top honours in different categories at the first 'Bharat Bangladesh Film Awards 2019' promoted by the Film Federation of India (FFI).
The five films are 'Ek Je Chhilo Raja', 'Nagarkirtan', 'Sonar Pahar', 'Byomkesh Gotro' and 'Mahalaya', FFI president Firdausul Hasan has said.
FFI, an apex body of producers and distributors in the country, will organise the awards night in Dhaka on October 21 where the winners in different categories will be announced.
In the 'Best Director' category, Kaushik Ganguly ('Nagarkirtan'), Srijit Mukherji ('Ek Je Chhilo Raja'), Shiboprosad Mukherjee and Nandita Roy ('Kontho'), Dhrubo Banerjee ('Durgeshgorer Guptodhon') and Parambrata Chattopadhyay ('Sonar Pahar') have been nominated.
The 'Best Actor in a leading role' category has Jisshu Sengupta ('Ek Je Chhilo Raja'), Prosenjit Chatterjee ('Jyeshthoputro'), Riddhi Sen ('Nagarkirtan'), Subhasish Mukherjee ('Mahalaya'), Abir Chatterjee ('Durgeshgorer Guptodhon') and Rudranil Ghosh ('Vinci Da') as nominees.
Paoli Dam ('Kontho'), Swastika Mukherjee ('Shahjahan Regency'), Rituparna Sengupta ('Ahaa Re') and Aparna Sen ('Basu Paribar') are contenders in the 'Best Actress in a leading role' category.
The 'Life Time Achievement Award' will be conferred on veteran actor Ranjit Mallick from India and Anowara Begum from Bangladesh, Hasan said.
Anupam Roy ('Uma'), Debojyoti Mishra ('Uronchondi'), Indraadip Dasgupta ('Ek Je Chhilo Raja') and Bickram Ghosh ('Byomkesh Gotro') have been nominated in 'Best Music' category.
Nominees in 'Best Playback Singer Male' category are Rupankar Bagchi, Monomoy, Anupam Roy, Anirban Bhattacharya and Raj Barman.
In the 'Best Playback Singer Female category', there are contenders like Shreya Ghoshal, Lagnajita Chakraborty, and Nikhita Gandhi.
A total of 55 Bengali films from India and 41 Bangladeshi films - released between the Eid festival of 2018 and 2019 - were compiled for the awards and shortlisted category wise.
The award, being instituted in association with FFI's counterparts in the neighbouring country, is aimed to give a boost to the entertainment industry of India and Bangladesh,
There have been similar nominations from Bangladesh side which will be announced on the awards night.
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