Roopa Ganguly, Dibakar Banerjee conferred ICC YLF Pride of Bengal awards among others
Kolkata/IBNS: Personalities ranging from actor-politician Roopa Ganguly to former Indian Navy officer Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee were conferred the Pride of Bengal Awards by the ICC (Indian Chamber of Commerce) Young Leaders Forum (YLF) at a recent ceremony in Kolkata.
The award ceremony's fourth edition celebrated the outstanding contribution of individuals in various fields such as music, cinema, politics and defence.
The event acknowledged the incredible work done by various people from all across India who have become pioneers of Bengal.
Amongst the awardees were filmmaker Dibakar Banerjee, actor-politician Roopa Ganguly, TV star Rohit Roy, celebrity draper Dolly Jain, music composer Jeet Gannguli, Vice-Admiral (rtd.) Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee and many others from various fields.
Actress Roopa Ganguly was felicitated with the award for Cinematic Excellence.
The actress has a glorious career spanning over 35 years and is a classically trained dancer and Rabindra sangeet vocalist along with her versatile and renowned discography.
“The land of West Bengal is beloved to us," said Roopa Ganguly, who has returned to acting of late with a TV drama.
Dibakar Banerjee, who made National Award winning films like Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) and Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008), besides the experimental Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010) among other,. was also honored with the award as a Visionary Film Director.
"I'm a Bengali too and Bengal is a land of cultures. It's a proud moment for me to be here today," said the maker of Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (the eponymous Bengali sleuth character) in Hindi.
Rohit Roy, best known for his lead role in 1990s tele soap Swabhimaan besides other works in Bollywood over decades, was given the award of Versatile Entertainer.
Looking dapper and fit, he said the award was “extremely special” to him.
“Bengal is a land that has so much culture, so much heritage, so much talent”, he said.
Acting British Deputy High Commissioner Peter Cook, who received the award for Foreign Relations, said he was proud to be born in Kolkata.
Although Cook spent over three decades abroad, his Bengali was remarkably untouched by any accent and he boasted about his love for the City of Joy.
Celebrity draper Dolly Jain was awarded for Creative Genius for her extensive work with various high profile celebrities. When asked why she started working in the field of draping she said, “I think I've started saree draping when I actually saw everybody not wearing sarees. They literally stopped wearing sarees. I took saree draping as a challenge and I wanted to spread this Indian art of draping globally”.
(Reporting by Radhika Sen, Images by Avishek Mitra)
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