Venkat Raman
Auckland, June 14, 2024
Sundeep Kulkarni and Rajshri Deshpande, two celebrities of the Indian film industry, will be among our Special Guests of Honour at the Tenth Annual Indian Newslink Sports, Community, Arts and Culture Awards scheduled to be held on Monday, June 17, 2024.
They are the stars in the Marathi film ‘Satyashodhak,’ the premiere of which will be held at Events Cinema in Westfield Complex in Newmarket, Auckland on Saturday, June 15, 2024.
Organised by the Auckland-based Communitey Forrum under its ‘Rising Stars’ banner, the event will include a Red Carpet welcome and address by the stars.
Details can be obtained from Shailesh Bagwe on 027-3333300.
The Sports, Community, Arts and Culture Awards Night will be held from 6 pm to 9.45 pm with entertainment, speeches, a vegetarian dinner and the Awards Presentation Ceremony.
Several Ministers including Andrew Bayly, Simon Watts, Leader of the Opposition Chris Hipkins, Members of Parliament, Lesley Murdoch, Chairman of the New Zealand Cricket Board and leaders of the Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan and Nepali communities will be present at the event that will be held at Swaminarayan Complex located at 1/7 Wilmay Avenue, Papatoetoe, Auckland.
Entry to the event is by tickets or invitation, both of which are about to be closed.
Great Social Reformers
‘Satyashodhak’ is a biopic, based on Mahatma Jyotirao Phule and Savitribai Phule. This film showcases their struggle, and the history of great social reformers to create a new generation of bold and progressive India.
The couple has shown the right path of education for women, no matter how difficult the situation was and fought against the old social customs and subjugating women to slavery. As well as a champion of the cause of women, Mahatma Phule was a successful businessman, contractor, journalist, writer, and poet.
Satyashodhak brings to the fore the respectful and meaningful relationship that Mahatma Phule shared with his wife Savitribai.
Nilesh Jalamkar is a writer and director of this film. He is an expert in biopic films and a State award winner. The film also features Suresh Vishwakarma, Ganesh Yadav, Ravindra Mankani and Monica Pradhan.
Produced by Pravin Tayde, Appa Borate, Bhimrao Pattebahadur, Sunil Shelke and Vishal Wahurwagh for Samata Films and Abhita Films Production Private Limited, Satyashodhak was conceptualised by Rahul Tayade and Vaishakh Wahurwagh.
About Sandeep Kulkarni
A conversation with Sandeep Kulkarni is a journalist’s delight. His affable manners and simplicity are almost unknown in the Hindi film industry which believes in make-believe fantasies. Mr Kulakarni is par excellence in acting and more importantly, a fine character artist, as Satyashodhak reveals. He has to his credit several films, television shows and theatricals, beginning with Mammo in 1994.
He became a popular actor following the success of Shwas (2004), a National Award-Winner, followed by Dombivli Fast (2005) for which he won multiple awards and an Oscar nomination. Traffic Signal (2007) brought him another National Award.
Some of his other notable performances were in Ek Daav Sansarach (2008), Made In China (2009) Pratisaad, The Response (2010), Paranoia (2011) and D-Day (2013)
Mr Kulkarni is associated with the 2018 Gujarati Movie Dhaad directed by Paresh Naik, featuring Nandita Das and K K Menon in lead roles. Krutant, a 2019 psychological thriller, directed by Datta Bhandare, was another successful film that proved his acting calibre.
About Rajshri Deshpande
Rajshri Deshpande gained international recognition for her performance in Pan Nalin’s drama film ’Angry Indian Goddesses.’ She portrayed the title character in Sanal Kumar Sasidharan’s ‘Sexy Durga,’ and received critical acclaim for her performance in the Netflix ‘Sacred Games.’
In 2023, Ms Deshpande won the Best Actress Award at the Filmfare OTT Awards for her work in ’Trial by Fire.’
Born in a working-class family in Aurangabad, Maharashtra, Ms Deshpande is the youngest of three siblings. With a degree in Law from the Symbiosis Law School and a postgraduate degree in Advertising from Symbiosis International University, she began her career in the advertising industry but soon found her calling in acting. She also has a diploma in filmmaking from Whistling Woods International in Mumbai.
Ms Deshpande made her debut in the Hindi Film industry in 2012 with a small role in the Aamir Khan starrer ’Talaash.’ She then moved to Television, appearing in ‘Kuch Toh Log Kahenge’ and ’24: India,’ in 2013. Returning to the big screen with a small role in Salman Khan’s ’Kick,’ she appeared in a double role in the Malayalam film ’Haram’ in 2015.
It was the portrayal of Laxami in ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ that provided her bigger platform. The film received the First Runner-Up People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and the People’s Choice Award at the Rome Film Festival.
Her lead role in ’Sexy Durga’ in 2017, won the Tiger Award at the Rotterdam Film Festival.
Ms Deshpande began her journey in the digital circuit with ‘McMafia’ (BBC One) directed by James Watkins in January 2018. Her role as Subhadra, the wife of Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Sacred Games’ won her international acclaim.
Ms Deshpande has devoted time to many humanitarian causes. After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, she worked with an international NGO in an affected village and during the same year adopted a drought-prone village of Pandhari in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra.
