'Rang De Basanti' sweeps IIFA Technical Awards

Mumbai, Apr 19 (UNI) Patriotic sentiments and emotional awakening of 'Rang De Basanti' stood out, as the winners of technical awards for the eighth Idea IIFA awards were announced.

Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra's acclaimed film picked up seven awards forBest Cinematography for Binod Pradhan, Best Editing for P S Bharathi, Best Art Direction for Samir Chanda, Best Background score and Best Song Recording for A R Rehman, Best Sound Recording for Nakul Kamte and Best Sound Re-recording for Hitendra Gosh.

Reacting to the announcement, an elated Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra said ''I am overwhelmed with the response that 'Rang De Basanti' has generated. The awards in the technical category truly encourage and applaud the excellence of people, who work behind the scene in making a film so successful. I would like to thank my fans across India and the world and also the IIFA platform for appreciating our film.'' Close behind came Rakesh Roshan's 'Krish' a story of India's first ever super hero that bagged two awards - best action for Tony Siutung, Shyam Kushal and best special effects (Visuals) EFX studios.

'Dhoom 2', an extravagant visual delight that captivated audiences with Hrithik Roshan's diverse looks and the breathtaking locals in sixteen reels grabbed the awards for best costume designing by Anaita Adajania and best make up for G A James for Hrithik Roshan's distinctive and unusual looks.

'Omkara' Vishal Bhardwaj's interpretation of William Shakespeare's classic, Othello that took us straight into the heartland of India where, politics and power equations are bread and butter of the inhabitants has picked the award for 'Beedi Jalaile' in the category of best choreography by Ganesh Acharya.

The trophies will be presented at the eighth IDEA IIFA awards ceremony to be held on June 9, 2007 at Yorkshire.

The announcements were made following an industry voting audited by PriceWatehouse Coopers, the auditing firm for the IIFAs and the Oscars. Fans from India and across the globe voted online for their favourite movies and performers of the year on www.msn.co.in.

The voting started on April three. The IIFA Weekend is a four-day extravaganza taking place from the June 7-10, 2007 with events in Leeds, Bradford, Hull, York and London. The weekend will include business forums, film premieres, workshops, a glitzy awards ceremony and fund-raising events for charity. The events in totality are expected to boost tourism in the host region, Yorkshire, by more than 9.5 mn pounds and set to attract 28,000 visitors from all over the world.

UNI