Vikram Gokhale honoured with PIFF Distinguished Award

Pune: "I have received many awards in the past but receiving an award at the film festival which is dedicated to Dr Shriram Lagoo is special and it has some emotions attached to it. I was very close to Dr. Lagoo and I have watched his work for over 40 years and analysed it. His death was my personal loss," said national award winner veteran actor, Vikram Gokhale while speaking at the unveiling of the 18th Pune International Film Festival (PIFF) organized by Pune Film Foundation and Maharashtra Government on Friday at Balgandharva Rangamandir, Jangli Maharaj Road, Pune.

Gokhale was honoured with the prestigious PIFF Distinguished Award at the event along with B.P. Singh, FTII Chairman and the creator of the popular TV series, CID. The S. D. Burman International Award for Creative Music and Sound was conferred upon music director Usha Khanna. The award was received by her family member in her absence. The awards were given at the hands of Amit Deshmukh, Minister of Cultural Affairs, Maharashtra in presence of Dr. Jabbar Patel, Director, PIFF, Ravi Gupta, Secretary, PIFF, Muralidhar Mohol, Mayor.

"I dedicate this award to my late father, actor Chandrakant Gokhale who would have turned 100 on January 7 had he been alive. He was a great admirer of Dr. Lagoo's work.," Gokhale said.

Speaking at the event, Cabinet Minister Amit Deshmukh said, "We are fortunate that actors like Dr. Shriram Lagoo belonged to Maharashtra. He was an asset to the state." He added saying that as a cultural affairs minister, he would try and fulfill everything that has been expected out of him to preserve the cultural heritage of Maharashtra.

B.P Singh talked about his journey of 22 years with the team of CID. The leading actors of TV series CID- Shivaji Satam, Aditya Srivastava and Dayanand Shetty, renowned Marathi actors Subodh Bhave Mukta Barve attended the event.

Cultural events including Lavani dance, tribal dance and a traditional musical programme was presented at the opening ceremony of the film festival.

Argentinean movie 'The Weasel's Tale' directed by Juan José Campanella was shown at NFAI Law College Road and NFAI Kothrud as the opening film of PIFF.

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