Kangana wins Best Actress award

Kangana has won the best actress award at the prestigious Asian Festival of First Films.

"This is my life's first award and that too in Singapore where I was pitched against three other names," says Kangana who won the award for her performance in Gangster.

The nominees for this prestigious award also included Aditi Rao Hydari for her moving portrayal of a vulnerable devdasi in debutant director Sharda Ramanathan's Tamil film Sringaram.

The festival acquires a special significance in the light of the fact that films from all over the world compete for this honour. The jury members this year who chose Kangana included Hong Kong actress Cecilia Yip, American writer-producer James Hart, British filmmaker Michael Yorke and India's own Ketan Mehta. Says Kangana, "I'm very happy. This isn't only my first award, it's also an international award and I'm the first Indian actress to get it."

A few days from now, Kangana will have her second award at the GIFA in Kuala Lumpur waiting for her. "Unfortunately I couldn't be there at Singapore. By the time I found out and it was too late to get a visa," she says. Apparently Vishesh Films hadn't sent the Gangster entry to the festival until filmmaker Kunal Kohli pointed out the possibility of Kangana winning the best actress award. Kangana will now leave for Kuala Lumpur where she'll receive an award for best debutante.