Naubahar International Film Festival was founded by Syed Hussain & Uroosa Rahim with an aim of bringing important cinematic work from all parts of the world to America. Their intention is to recognize the outstanding accomplishments made by people who produce films, and to acknowledge talented entertainers from around the world. Filmmakers from all genres are encouraged to submit their work for a special screening in Chicago. They will also have an opportunity to be nominated for various international, people's choice awards.
Naubahar International Film Festival 2016 kicked off in grand style. It brought out a veritable “who’s who” among the Chicago Indian and Pakistani community. The idea of bringing new and exhilarating talent from the world of cinema was communicated abundantly. The event took place on August 20th 2016 at Monty’s Elegant Banquets in Bensenville, IL and was regarded by all in attendance to be a fabulous one. Mr. Iftekhar Shareef was the guest of honor and explained to everyone “This is a seed we are planting today, tomorrow it will grow into a beautiful tree.”
The Naubahar audience witnessed a diverse range of talents throughout the night. The atmosphere was especially charged after the electric opening by Bollywood Actress Dolly Tomar, who also went on to win the Best Actress award. The variety of performances left no doubts about the calibre of talent India has been delivering to the Big Screen.
Uroosa Rahim, who organized the festival, will also be making her debut as a Bollywood Director with Syed Hussain this year, She has worked for Chicago area producers (Sahil, L.A. Tan, Art Spot Chicago, and Live Vision Entertainment) to bring some of Bollywood’s biggest names to her area. “We have cultivated positivity from the past and hope to achieve more progress in the near future” she said.
Uroosa’s partner Syed Hussain is a multi-talented writer, director, and producer with over ten years of experience in film-making. His recent movie Dawat-E-Shaadi was the first Hyderabadi film to be released throughout India. It is distributed by Rajshri Productions and was officially declared a Blockbuster Hit. During his speech he was most gracious in his praise of the entire cast. “We created a milestone as a team so big thanks to each of you for the parts you all played in our success.” He added, “It clearly feels like this is going to be a very important festival in the near future. We would like it to be a breeding ground for the International film industry.”
Between handing out the key awards, performers were also given a chance to showcase their talent. High energy dance duo Lovish and Mahi Thakur performed a powerfully kinetic routine, and Singer Zohaib Khawar came from Pakistan to receive his award and dazzled the audience with his prodigious musical abilities. An international lineup of film stars: Mast Ali (Saleem Pheku), Dolly Tomar, Aziz Nasir (Jahangir), Dheer Charan Srivastav (Ismail Bhai), Feroz Khan all performed at the Naubahar International Film Festival. They each give a full demonstration of their comedic talent, timing and the charisma that has made them legitimate stars back home. Before long the audience was laughing so uproariously many of them were in tears
Additional highlights of the evening also included Electro Reggae recording artist MC ZULU. He received a Heritage Award for Cultural Outreach. “Little Lotto”, a song he features on with fellow Chicago artist Shivani Alowalia and Indian production phenom Nucleya, has gone viral across India. It also airs regularly on the BBC Asian network. Mast Ali (Saleem Pheku) was awarded Best Actor for Dawat-E-Shaadi, Dolly Tomar: Awarded Best Actress for Dehli 24/7, Aziz Nasir (Jahangir): Awarded Best Director for Stepney, Dheer Charan Srivastav: (Ismail Bhai) Awarded for Best Versatile Actor, Feroz Khan: Awarded Best Negative Role for Dawat-E-Shaadi and Zohaib Khawar received the Emerging Singer Award.
“If you have the potential, world is ready to see the inner YOU.” Mast Ali said while receiving his award.
Being a part of the avante-garde in the Chicago market does not always yield abundantly in the way of acknowledgement. This is why the inaugural awards were decided by committee. Subsequent awards will have nominees and a voting process. As Uroosa explains it: “Babu & Bhavesh Patel of SAHIL and Mayur & Nick Patel of L.A.TAN have brought shows to the area for over 25 years. You don’t vote on that. You start off by recognizing it.” Another non-negotiable was the Lifetime Achievement award for Live Vision Entertainment’s Mohammad Idris (Cha-Cha Idris), who was undeniably the first to consistently bring South Asian talent to the area. “If we never had another one of these, I know certain people have been given the recognition I feel they deserve”, she explains.
Naubahar International Film Festival will now work to bring the entire Asian film industry together by adding Haryanvi, Chhattisgarhi, Marathi, Kannada, Deccani from India & Lollywood from Pakistan along with many other regional film markets. As Uroosa explains it, “The major markets have established film industries and awards platforms; but many regional talents have no outlet. We are looking forward to welcoming them, as well as movies which originate from other areas of the world.” A follow up is already in the works. Naubahar’s stated mission is a revolutionary one, it holds much promise and if proven successful, it could very well usher in a new era of cooperation through entertainment.
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