Rajkummar Rao emulates Manoj Bajpayee, wins Best Actor gong at Asia Pacific Screen awards

Rajkummar Rao's year just keeps getting better. After the Academy award nomination for his film Newton (2017), the actor has now won the Best Actor honour at the 11th Asia Pacific Screen awards in Brisbane, Australia, for his performance in the film. The film also won for director Amit V Masurkar and writer Mayank Tewari the award for Best Screenplay.

The awards are given by the Brisbane City Council to honour cinema and performances in the Asia-Pacific region. This is the fourth time Indian films have won major prizes at the ceremony. In 2016, Manoj Bajpayee was awarded the Best Actor prize for his performance in Hansal Mehta's Aligarh (2016).

Mayank Tewari tweeted a video of himself accepting the award for Best Screenplay on behalf of his director at the ceremony.

Haobam Paban Kumar's Manipuri feature Loktak Lairambee, or Lady Of The Lake (2016), also won a special mention at the awards ceremony that took place today. The film was part of the cultural diversity category in the competition.

The other previous Indian winners at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards are Feroze Abbas Khan (Best Screenplay for Gandhi, My Father, 2007) and Ritesh Batra (Best Screenplay for The Lunchbox, 2013).

Warwick Thornton's Sweet Country won the award for Best Film this year while Kamilia Andini won the Best Actress laurel for her performance in The Seen And The Unseen.

Newton has been nominated as India's entry to the 90th Academy Awards to be held in March.