Bollywood actress Rani Mukerji has won the best actress award for her role in Yash Raj Films’ (YRF) film Hichki.

As Naina Mathur, a passionate teacher who deals with Tourette Syndrome, Rani delivered a powerful performance, also communicating a key message about equal treatment for people with physical challenges in India.

Her character inspires positive change in school students from economically backward origins, a story that resonated globally for Hichki to become a massive hit and now Indian Film Festival of Melbourne has awarded Rani with the Best Actress Award for the year.

Hugely popular with sizeable Indian diaspora living in Melbourne, Rani expressed her gratitude saying, “Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) has always welcomed the best of Indian cinema.”

The theme of the IFFM 2018 festival was ‘Inclusion’. IFFM had an eminent panel of jury (Andrew Anastasios, Jill Bilcock, Geoffrey Wright, Nikkhil Advani, Rajeev Masand, Simi Garewal, Sue Maslin) who unanimously decided upon Rani Mukerji’s win as the Best Actress.

Photo / Video courtesy: YRF