Indian Film Festival of Melbourne: Aishwarya Rai hoists Indian flag, Sushant Singh Rajput wins Best Actor

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) kicked off on 10 August, and many of Bollywood’s stars were present at the event. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karan Johar, Malaika Arora, Rajkummar Rao, Shilpa Shetty, Sushant Singh Rajput, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rahul Bose and Simi Garewal were some of the celebrities that graced the event. Aishwarya along with her daughter Aaradhya hoisted the Indian flag during the festival ahead of India’s 70th Independence Day, with Aishwarya calling it “a moment of pride and happiness". They then reportedly went on to sing the Indian national anthem_._ [caption id=“attachment_3923197” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Aishwarya Rai along with daughter Aaradhya as the actor gives a speech. Image from Twitter.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3923643” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The Indian flag at IIFM’s 70th edition. Image from Twitter.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3923199” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Aishwarya Rai hoisted the Indian flag ahead of India’s 70th Independence Day. Image from Twitter.[/caption] [caption id=“attachment_3923201” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Aishwarya Rai and Simi Garewal during the flag hoisting ceremony.[/caption] Actor Sushant Singh Rajput, who had been a back-up dancer in IIFM’s 2006 edition talked about how far he’s come in his journey, from being a dancer to winning the Best Actor award for the biopic MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. [caption id=“attachment_3923203” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Sushant Singh Rajput receiving the Best Actor award for his movie MS Dhoni: The Untold Story.[/caption] Other winners from the night were Konkona Sen Sharma’s Lipstick Under My Burkha which was awarded the Best Film, with the Konkona winning the Best Actress award.  _Dangal_  director Nitesh Tiwari also bagged the Best Director award for his super hit film. [caption id=“attachment_3923205” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne also saw Malaika Arora in attendance.[/caption] Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was felicitated with Excellence in Global Cinema Award at this year’s IFFM. [caption id=“attachment_3923207” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Aishwarya Rai was felicitated with the Excellence in Global Cinema Award at this year’s IFFM.[/caption]