8th Bhojpuri Film Awards in Lucknow

Lucknow, Sep 17 (IANS) The 8th Bhojpuri Film Awards would be held in this Uttar Pradesh capital Nov 16, its organisers said Tuesday.

The awards, which began in 2005, have so far been held in Mumbai and other big cities but this time "we decided to bring it close to the Bhojpuri land", its founder Vinod Gupta told IANS.

For seven years, this was done in places like Mumbai, largely with an aim to put Bhojpuri films on a bigger map. But this year its like home coming and we would be honouring the big stars of the Bhojpuri film industry, he added.

The awards, constituted by the Bhojpuri Film and TV Welfare Association, would see the presence of film stars, character actors, music composers, lyricists and directors.

Bhojpuri film stars Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirhua', Rani Chaterjee, Sambhavna Seth, character artist Surendra Pal and Bhojpuri villain Kunal Singh, who were in the city for the announcement Monday, said they were excited that the awards were being held here.