The London Asian Film Festival (LAFF) ended its annual awards, dinner with a special tribute to Om Puri. 

Renowned British-Asian director, Gurinder Chadha reminded audiences of Puri’s legacy in film, with exclusive anecdotes of her personal experiences of working with the actor. 

The festival gave a respectful salute to Pakistani-born British actor, Art Malik, who was awarded with the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' for his contribution to the arts.  

Alankrita Shrivastava's, controversial feature film, Lipstick Under My Burkha won two awards including 'Best Film'.

The 'Best Director' honour was awarded to Rahat Kazmi for Mantostaan, with Pakistani film Rahm hailing the 'Best Adaptation' award. 

Caribbean title, Bazodee took away ‘Best Music’ and the ‘Audience Choice Award’ after creating a storm with its Soca music and carnival vibe.

Earlier this year, TOF (Tongues on Fire’s) announced its UK wide expansion and has proudly witnessed a successful first edition of the Leicester Asian Film Festival (LeAFF) with sell-out screenings. 

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Festival director, Dr Pushpinder Chowdhry said, “It feels fantastic to expand our festival into other cities this year, with an exceptional line up of films and film makers who honoured us by coming to share their journeys with all our audiences.”

TOF operations director Saba Syed added, “The festival just keeps getting better every year and female voices and story tellers are being heard. 

"This year, we at Tongues on Fire are very proud to play a part in celebrating shared heritage without borders, joining the global movement defying current populist sentiment which is sweeping the sub-continent, Europe and the USA.”