Sunil Shetty bags the Best Actor award at SAIFF in New York

Sunil Shetty has only won one award in his 17 years in Bollywood. But that dry run ended when he went international. For his performance in the upcoming Red Alert, he has bagged the Best Actor award at the South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF), New York.

The film's director Ananth Mahadevan says, "I am happy especially for Sunil because his performance being appreciated at a global level. When I took this film to him, he had told me in his humble way, not to make the film with him in a solo lead. But I was sure he could pull off the character of Narasimha and he did."

Fab feeling

An ecstatic Sunil says, "It is a fabulous feeling. In all the reviews of my films till date, a majority have called me 'wooden' or said 'gives a routine performance'.

To win an award at a recognized film festival like the SAIFF in New York is a big high as an actor and makes me want to work harder and better."

Sunil goes on to add, "The film is on a Naxal setting and right now, is the right time for the film to come out."

In the past, Sunil has been nominated a handful of times but has only won one award for his supporting act in the 2000 hit Dhadkan.

All about SAIFF
The South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) is the largest film premiere destination for South Asian/Indian filmmakers in the United States. It was founded in New York City due to the lack of support for many emerging filmmakers and theu00a0 under representation of Indian cinema there. The festival is committed to exhibiting films from South Asia (i.e. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal) and within the Indian Diaspora. The 6th Annual SAIFF will take place from October 28 November 3, 2009.