February 12, 2018
Veteran filmmaker Ramesh Sippy, who directed the classic
blockbuster "Sholay" and tele-serial "Buniyaad", would be conferred the first
'Raj Kapoor Award for Excellence in Cinema', an official said here on Monday.
Instituted by the Asian Centre for Entertainment Education (ACEE) with
various international organisations like World Bank, UNICEF, USC Annenberg
Normal Lear Cenre, Hollywood Health and Society, Cinepolis Foundation and CMS,
the 'Raj Kapoor Trophy' will be unveiled here on Wednesday.
"The global
awards are being launched in memory of Raj Kapoor, the quintessential 'Showman
of Post-Independent India', who was a rare filmmaker to have placed mainstream
and popular entertainment which he created in contemporary social contexts,"
said ACEE Co-Founder Vinta Nanda.
Raj Kapoor was making films from
virtually the official birth of India onwards, when the violence of Partition
marked the translation from British rule to democracy, and even without a close
reading of history, it is clear that undercurrents in his work often measured
the changes, both economic and social, in Indian society, she explained.
Sippy, 71, will receive the first Raj Kapoor Award for Excellence in Cinema at
the two-day 'Elevate 2K18' bi-annual conclave of ACEE's programme, The Third Eye
in Mumbai, she added.
Honoured with a Padma Shri, Sippy has attained
legendary status with his memorable film "Sholay" (1975) and later the popular
serial on Doordarshan, "Buniyaad" (1987), based on the Partition of India.
Veteran actors and sons of Raj Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor and
Rajiv Kapoor, will take part in a discussion on 'The Unparalleled Social
Commentator, The Showman Raj Kapoor', which will be moderated by journalist
Shekhar Gupta.
Besides the launch of the global award and trophy at the
'Elevate 2K18', Nanda said the team behind the latest Bollywood release "Pad
Man", including producer Twinkle Khanna and director R. Balki shall be
felicitated at the conclave.
The first trailer of the upcoming film, "102
Not Out" directed by Umesh Shukla of "OMG - Oh My God!" fame - which brings
together industry veterans Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor together on screen
after a 25 year gap - shall be released at the conclave.