Ben Kingsley to attend 4th Apsara awards ceremony

Mumbai: The announcement of winners of the 4th Apsara Film and Television Producers Guild Awards will be made on December 4. Sir Ben Kingsley, the winner of four major Motion Picture Acting awards, the Oscar, BAFTA, Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, is in India to look for financers of his 27 million USD project `Taj` and will be the special guest at the event.

The announcement of the awards was postponed last year as a mark of respect to the 26/11 victims. With the 5th Apsara Awards for 2009 scheduled to be held later in the same month, the stars and audience are in for a double treat of the industry`s biggest night. The ceremony will be broadcast on Colors, Viacom18`s Hindi General Entertainment Channel, and the official broadcast partner of the 2009 Awards. The Apsara Film and Television Producers` Guild Awards is the Guild`s endeavor to honour excellence in cinema and television by the stalwarts of the industry itself, Guild President Manmohan Shetty said. The award winners were chosen by the Guild`s members through a secret ballot. The Guild Jury members include stalwarts of the Indian film industry like Ravi Chopra, Ashok Thakeria, Nittin Keni, Prem Sagar, Ketan Desai among others, who, along with the auditors are a part of the selection process, he said. "The Producers’ Guild Awards looks to honour achievers within the fraternity and it is an initiative from the fraternity itself. This stands out as the prime differentiator and makes the awards special. With this synergy between the Guild and Wizcraft, we are confident that very soon this will become the most credible amongst awards," he said. Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International Entertainment, promoters of the awards said that the Producers Guild Awards will emerge as on of the most galmorous awards this year. "We are very proud to be associated with this prestigious award as the Producers Guild Awards is the only award that is chosen by the core industry itself. It is indeed a distinguished honour for artists to be recognized by their own peers. The Producers Guild Awards will emerge this year as one of the most glamorous awards, be it on scale performances, attendance and presentation." Bureau Report