The only transparent & credible awards

By IndiaFM News Bureau -

April 5, 2004 - 12:00 AM IST

NDIAN ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY TO VIE FOR 'THE APSARA' Film Producers Guild of India institutes India's only independent, transparent & credible Awards, 'of the industry, by the industry, for the industry' Recognising the growing need to establish a fresh standard for excellence in the Indian entertainment industry, the Film Producers' Guild of India (FPGI / Guild) today announced the 'Apsara Film Producers' Guild of India Award', to commemorate its Golden Jubilee Anniversary. The 50-year old Guild has over 150 by-invitation-only members, who constitute the most powerful and influential luminaries in its sector --- thus the guild today stands as the only definitive and representative body of the Indian entertainment industry. Ensuring utmost levels of credibility & transparency, the Awards will be audited by Price Waterhouse Coopers who incidentally also have the honour of having audited the most distinctive film awards in the world - the Oscars. The 1st Apsara Awards, is set to culminate in a glittering grand finale scheduled to be held on Saturday, May 29th, 2004. The nominees for 'The Apsara FPGI Awards' will be announced on Wednesday, May 5, 2004. Uniquely, the industry's most powerful body will be lauding Hindi Film, Regional Film and Television talent on the same platform. FPGI has constituted an eminent committee comprising Indian entertainment industry stalwarts to ensure global-class standards for 'The Apsara FPGI Awards'. These personalities who need no introduction, include the convener of the awards, Mr. Ramesh Sippy, the President of FGPI, Mr. Amit Khanna, & the Chairmen of the eminent jury across each of the 4 categories -- Shekhar Kapur for the Film awards, Govind Nihalani, for the Technical Awards, Ronnie Screwvala for the Television awards & Mr. Yash Chopra, who along with Mr. Amit Khanna would head the Special Award category. An honour that truly befits excellence and brilliance in every sphere of filmmaking, 'The Apsara' is a celestial masterpiece exclusively designed and sculpted by Tanishq -- it tall at 250mm and weighs 900gms. This 22-karat gold plated trophy has been inspired by the timelessness and rich heritage of one of India's most treasured possession - the Ajanta and Ellora. The trophy has been etched with one of the paintings from the caves depicting creativity and splendour in its finest form. Speaking on the occasion, Amit Khanna, President, Film Producers Guild of India said, The Apsara Film Producers Guild Awards have been institutionalised with a very clear objective. We feel there is a dire need for experts from within the film and TV industry to honour and recognise their peers through Awards that are credible, transparent, objective and completely unbiased. Every nuance of filmmaking and acting has to be understood thoroughly to assess excellence and it can only be the makers and the people who live and breathe films that can be the correct judges to determine brilliance. The 1st Apsara Film Producers Guild of India Awards is a major step in that direction and is modelled to establish a standard that parallels no other. The winners will be voted by the cast of a ballot by all the 153 members of the Guild and not by a viewer's choice poll. Members some of whom include Aamir Khan, Shyam Bengal, Amitabh Bachchan, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Kamal Barjatiya will all be participating in the voting process. A total of 36 categories, including 24 from cinema and 12 from television (both fiction and non-fiction), will be honoured at the grand finale. With big-budget blockbusters competing alongside television content and crossover films, entries will be judged on overall quality, content, cinematic brilliance and individual merit. Film Producers Guild of India It was in 1954 when stalwarts like Dr V Shantaram, Sohrab Modi, Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor came together to build an organisation that would in the years to come shape and map the route for the future of the Indian film industry. The Film Producer's Guild of India through the years, has become a supremely powerful outfit and can justifiably lay claim as being the only definitive body to represent the Indian Film Industry in the oeuvre of world cinema. The Guild as it is popularly called was formed with manifold objectives. Essentially established with the objective of dispute solving, the Guild today stands like a one-man army rendering services for some of the most difficult sectors within the industry. The Guild today has over 153 members which includes Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, A.P. Hinduja, B.R. Chopra, Boney Kapoor, Dev Anand, Dheeraj Kumar, Feroz Khan, G.P. Sippy, Govind Nihalani, J. Om Prakash, J.P. Dutta, Jhamu Sugandh, Jeetendra, Kamal Kumar Barjatya, Manmohan Shetty, Rakesh Roshan, Dr Ramanand Sagar, Ramesh Prasad, Ramesh Sippy, Ronnie Screwvala, Bobby Bedi, Shakti Samanta, Shekhar Kapur, Shyam Benegal, Subhash Ghai, Sushil Kumar Agarwal, Yash Chopra, Kunal Dasgupta and Yash Johar.