Asia Pacific Screen Awards: Manoj Bajpayee wins Best Actor

Bhonsle, featuring Manoj Bajpayee in the eponymous role, has been nominated in two categories, and the actor has also won the category.  He secured the position against international actors like Wang Jingchun (China), Navid Mohammadzadeh and Mohsen Tanabandeh (Iran), and Eran Naim (Israel). Directed by Devashish Makhija, the film is also nominated for the Cultural Diversity Award under UNESCO. In the film, Bajpayee plays a Mumbai Police constable Bhonsle who tries to fight the struggles of migrants and their battles with the local politicians.

The film has been produced by Golden Ratio Films, along with Manoj Bajpayee Productions, Promodome Motion Pictures, and Nutzaboutme Pte Ltd. Bajpayee said he is elated the film received recognition at the APSA.

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Bhonsle is a passion project for me which made me realise that if there is a will there will always be a way. "I am happy and ecstatic that APSA nominations have proved all the naysayers wrong about our love and conviction for this gem of a script. I now believe that is a poetic justice somewhere," the actor said in a statement.

The director said being nominated alongside the best of the Asia-Pacific is a shot in the arm for a film that was made against a storm of odds."APSA has always had the highest standards for filmmaking in Asia with nominees that span all the winners at Cannes, Venice, Berlin et al each year.

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"It gives us the much-needed strength to not stop telling the sociological /political/anthropological stories we seek to tell," Makhija said. Bhonsle premiered in the 'A Window on Asian Cinema' section of the Busan International Film Festival 2018. It has also been screened at renowned film festivals including the MAMI Film Festival, Dharamshala Film Festival 2018, the International Film Festival Rotterdam 2019, the Bengaluru International Film Festival and the Singapore South Asian film festival.

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