| | | | Perizaad Zorabian and Prakash Rao in Morning Raga, which opened the IAAC film festival in New York, as well as the Cairo International Film Festival | Perizaad Zorabian is on cloud nine. Her film, Morning Raga, has officially been submitted for nomination in the Best Foreign Film category, by the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences, Los Angeles for the upcoming Oscars. Musical thread
The film also stars Shabana Azmi, Lilette Dubey and Prakash Rao, son of producer K Raghavendra Rao.
Directed by Mahesh Dattani, Perizaad plays a city girl in Morning Raga. The film centres around her, Shabana and Rao; all of them are linked by a tragic past, which they overcome through music. While Dubey plays Zorabian's mother, Shabana and Zorabian share a guru-disciple relationship.
Zorabian tells hitList, "I cannot conceal my excitement. It's not easy in the film industry. The fact that Morning Raga has received this acclaim is indeed a big deal for me." Small firm, big chance
USA-based Bollywood Hollywood Production Inc CEO, Prashant Shah, is thrilled that Morning Raga is in the race with the frontrunners.
"A larger company may not show as much interest in marketing and distributing a small film like Morning Raga. But for Bollywood Hollywood Production, which is a relatively small company, it is a huge accomplishment to have the Academy take notice," he says.
The official announcement for all Oscar-nominated films will be made on January 31, 2006, and the awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 5, 2006. |
| Perizaad visits School for the Blind | | Victor Banerjee and Perizaad Zorabian at the opening
of Inner Vision, an exhibition by students of The Happy Home and School for the Blind, Worli | Last week, Perizaad Zorabian took time off from shooting, and visited the Happy Home and School for the Blind, in Worli.
Students of the institute had made artifacts — pottery, murals, ceramics, woodwork, mosaic, handloom, paper bags and greeting cards — for an exhibition, which was also attended by her Joggers' Park co-star, Victor Banerjee.
Says Perizaad, "I don't think the blind students recognised me. They were simply told I was an actress. I don't know if some of them have sat through my films and recognised me by my voice. But the visit to the school set me thinking; those guys were all so chilled out.
There was not a streak of worry on their faces, despite the fact that they have been deprived of the most important thing in the world — sight. It's funny how we 'normal' folks perpetually carry a tense expression." | |
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