Mira Nair's 'The Namesake' nominated for IFP Gotham awards, NY

New Delhi, Nov 29 (UNI) After winning accolades the world over for its cinematic excellence and performances by lead actors Tabu and Irrfan Khan, Mira Nair's 'The Namesake' has won a nomination at the prestigious Gotham Awards in New York by the Independent Feature Project.

Featuring Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Kal Penn, and Jacinda Barrett, 'The Namesake', co-produced by UTV Motion Pictures along with the US-based Fox Searchlight films, has been nominated for the Best Feature film at the 2007 IFP Gotham Awards, sources at the UTV said.

The film's lead actor Irrfan Khan has also been recognised in the Best Supporting Actor category for his portrayal of Ashoke Ganguli, a father who anchors his family as they grow through loneliness, adolescence, and bitter loss.

Irrfan has thus become the first Indian actor to ever be nominated for a Film Independent's Spirit Award.

Nair, who calls 'The Namesake' her "most personal film yet," is being honoured by the Independent Feature Project with a retrospective of her body of work.

This past weekend, the Independent Film Center in New York City hosted packed screenings of Hysterical Blindness (2002, starring Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis and Gena Rowlands), Monsoon Wedding (2001, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillette Dubey and Vijay Raaz).

The celebration culminated with a screening of Nair's new short film, 'Migration' (2007, starring Shiney Ahuja, Raima Sen, Irrfan Khan and Sameera Reddy) and her Oscar-nominated debut, 'Salaam Bombay' followed by a Question and Answer moderated by renowned director Bennett Miller (Capote).

Uma Thurman and Tabu presented Nair with her tribute award to celebrate her contribution to independent cinema at the Gotham Awards ceremony held yesterday.

UNI