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Washington, July 27: "9 Eleven", a Bollywood-style thriller by an Indian American director, has been nominated for a record eight awards at the 2012 World Music & Independent Film Festival here in August.

A fast paced thriller with undertones of terrorism, the film poses the question how does one survive collectively in meeting the growing phenomenon of terrorism head on. Written and directed by Manan Singh Katohora, "9 Eleven" portrays the life of 11 people terrorised to the core by an unknown entity in an unfamiliar place.

Each individual is petrified and is hesitant to talk or take each other into confidence for one simple reason: The fear of the unknown!

Katohora, who won the 2012 Rising Star Award for the.

New York, May 22: "9 ElEVEN", a Bollywood-style film by an Indian American director, has won the Best Feature Film award at the Peoples Film Festival (Tpff) here showcasing extraordinary films using different media formats.

Written and directed by Manan Singh Katohora, "9 ElEVEN" portrays the life of 11 people terrorised to the core by an unknown entity in an unfamiliar place. Each individual is petrified and is hesitant to talk or take each other into confidence for one simple reason: The Fear of the Unknown!

Katohora also won the 2012 Rising.

Washington, March 3: Indian American filmmaker Manan Singh Katohora has won the "2012 Rising Star Award" for his feature film "9 Eleven" at the Canada International Film Festival.

Held in Vancouver, British Columbia, the festival brings the very best of World Cinema from over 90 countries around the world. It is dedicated to the creation of opportunities for the artistic interaction and exchange among independent filmmakers and the film-going community.

Written and Directed by Katohora, "9 Eleven" portrays the life of 10 people who belong to different walks of life.

Though each individual has achieved a measure of success.

'9 Eleven', the first Bollywood film to be shot entirely in the Washington capital area, has completed shooting and is expected to be released globally by mid-2011."We have successfully shot the entire film in our stipulated time schedule," said producer Narain Mathur of Amar Durga Films."I am extremely happy with the progress of this film. All my actors rose to the occasion and have given outstanding performances," said director Manan Singh Katohora.Jatin Pandit has also scored the music of '9 Eleven'."It gives me great pleasure to say that the vision of the director is now on celluloid. This is a Bollywood film and shot entirely in Washington DC, the production standards have been high and can be compared to the best in this industry," Pandit said.

Washington, July 10 – A colourful ‘Bollywood meets Hollywood’ event showcasing the culture of India, dance, music, and a fashion show, will be held here next Saturday to raise funds for a new eye hospital in Punjab.

One-third of the intake would be provided to Sankara Eye Foundation (Sef), a Us registered non-profit organisation that plans to open another hospital in Punjab by the end of 2012 with a net budget of $4 million.

To raise funds, Tejash Natali, a supporter and donor of Sef along with Manan Singh Katohora, a South Asian filmmaker.

New Delhi May 14 – TV actor Michaele Salahi, known for her infamous gatecrashing of the Us President Barack Obama’s dinner party, will be co-judging a best sari contest to be held in Washington June 12.

Along with Salahi, the contest will be judged by Indian and South Asian community leader Manan Singh Katohora along with a panel of Indian leaders from Washington DC, said a press statement.

This competition is being touted as the world’s first ever international sari contest and is being organised by America’s Polo Cup, an International.

Manan Katohora, writer and director of last year's When Kiran Met Karen, really has a thing for lesbians. Or at least for featuring them in lead roles in his films. Katohora's latest screenplay, Come to My Window (which features the Melissa Etheridge song by the same name) is currently being filmed in Washington, D.C., and again, revolves around lesbian characters.

But this time, it's different, Katohora says, as Come to My Window is more of a "true coming out story" about two neighbors, an Indian named Priya (Simi Van Scoy) and an American named Nicole (Alison Hight) falling in love.

Simi Van Scoy (left) and Alison Hight

Come to my Window is Katohora's third film involving lesbians (the second is this year's Extrospection, a twist of a coming out story in which a mother comes out to her daughter), and he says this pattern reflects his experiences.

"I was...

In our annual Visibility Awards, we formally recognize the people who have positively or negatively impacted lesbian and bi visibility in American entertainment during the year. (See previous years here: 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004).

From Best Movie to Worst Song to Lesbian/Bi Woman of the Year, these awards recognize the television shows, movies, music, books and people who entertained, inspired, or disappointed us in 2008.

In previous years, the winners have been editorially chosen by the AfterEllen.com staff (note: winners do not necessarily represent any individual staff member's preference). This year, we opened up some of the categories for nominations, posted the finalists, and thousands of you voted. We've designated those categories with this symbol:

We've also included more international people, shows and movies this year, a reflection of the increasing awareness of lesbian and bisexual visibility around the world made possible by the internet.

Now on to the best and worst of...

While small-budget films are fortunate if they can generate pre-release buzz, doing so can also inflate audience expectations. By the time last week’s premiere of director Manan Katohora’s When Kiran Met Karen rolled around, anyone familiar with the project had been hearing about it for a good 19 months. But even after accounting for what a set-up that kind of hype presents, the movie is ultimately disappointing.

The basic premise is sound. Kiran Lohar (Chriselle Almeida) — or K. Lo, according to the tabloids — is a rising Bollywood star who’s in New York for the premiere of her latest blockbuster, A Himalayan Love Story, produced by her mega-rich music mogul fiancé, Dev Ghosh (Samrat Chakrabarti). Karen Sorens (Kelli Holsopple) is a fledgling reporter for Reel Women magazine who wants an exclusive interview with Kiran.

Warning: Spoilers

The eponymous meeting between the two takes place after Kiran flees a press...