Venkat Raman
‘Curry Munchers,’ which is better known as ‘Vindaloo Empire,’ and has had rave reviews in every centre of its release since 2011, won the ‘Best Global Film Award’ at the ‘Festival of Globe Movie 2017’ held at the ‘Century at Pacific Commons,’ 43917 Pacific Commons Boulevard, Fremont, California on August 9, 2017.
The Festival was hosted by the Federation of Indo-Americans of Northern California as a part of ‘India Independence’ celebrations.
Great Honour
Speaking to Indian Newslink ‘Vindaloo Empire’ lead actor Aunanda Naaido (which is his screen name- he is officially known as Anand Naidu) said that the film has had overwhelming response and that the Award was a great honour.
“More than 200 entries were submitted to the Selection Panel of the Move Festival, of which less than 15 films made it to the finals. We are extremely pleased that ‘Vindaloo Empire,’ has won the prestigious Award. This will mark the entry of the film into the North American market including the United States of America and Canada,” he said.
Mr Naaido said that the Festival would hopefully be the gateway for ‘Vindaloo Empire’ to be shown in India.
Vindaloo Empire Credits
Produced by Rajendran Naidoo (Anand’s father and a long-time friend of this reporter), the film has screenplay written by Anand and Padma Akula (a popular theatre and film artiste, producer and director).
Directed by Cristobal Araus Lobos, a Chilean-New Zealander whose credits include the award-winning ‘The Waiting Place.’ and ‘Netherwood,’ a hard-boiled Southern-set thriller, the Cast of ‘Vindaloo Empire’ includes Aunanda Naaido, Alison Titulaer, Ajay Vasisht, Leela Patel, Ben Mitchell, Rajeev Varma, Tarun Mohanbhai, Vidya Venugopalan, Bhavnesh Soni, Jenny Li, Lisa Robinson, Dwayne Cameron, D Mark Harrison, Sophia Elisabeth, William Wallace, Amit Ohdedar and Jazeel Mistry.
Billed as ‘A Culture-Shock Comedy,’ the film is about a young man who migrates to New Zealand from India to find his adopted country far from his imagination and expectation. A fast-moving film, it engaged audiences and brought Aunanda his much-deserved international acclaim. He now owns ‘Mahayana Films Limited,’ a banner that would provide an umbrella for many productions.
A Chartered Accountant by profession, Aunanda lives in Rarotonga, Cook Islands where he is employed as the Chief Financial Officer at Edgewater Resort and Spa.
He is the lead actor in ‘Stranded Pearl,’ currently in production.
