New York: Celebrated Indian films vied for top honours at the five-day Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival in New York with filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh's intimate tale of love and companionship Dosar taking two big awards for best actress and best director.

“This film has taken on a life of it's own. The film has continued to live on long after it was released,” actor Konkona Sensharma said.

Other winners of the evening included Chinatown-inspired noir Manorama Six Feet Under which was announced as the best film. The film's leading man Abhay Deol received the award on behalf of its producer.

“I am very happy with the film’s success. I never wanted to part of wannabe films. So, am glad with the films I have done,” Abhay Deol said.

Bollywood veteran Danny Denzongpa took home the best actor trophy for Shivajee Chandrabhushan's Frozen, a touching and somber story about a family in Ladakh whose peaceful existence is interrupted when the army moves into their neighborhood.

The awards, which were announced at the festival's closing night, was preceded by a screening of Rituporno Ghosh's Amitabh Bachchan-starrer The Last Lear, and guests in the packed auditorium included authors Salman Rushdie and Shashi Tharoor, filmmaker Mira Nair and food writer Madhur Jaffrey among others.

The evening's most memorable moment however, had to be the spontaneous leg pulling between filmmaker Mira Nair and industrialist Anand Mahindra whose company is the title sponsor of the festival.

“I'm so proud to stand here with Anand who was a school friend of mine. Before he became this hotshot businessman, he was a good filmmaker,” Mira Nair said.

Replying to Mira’s revelations, Anand said, "Thank you Mira for revealing that deep dark secret of mine. Imagine calling a failed filmmaker to the stage. I always wanted to come on stage at a film awards function and I figured the only way it could happen is if I sponsored one.”

To which Mira burst out laughing and said, “I was going to say that but Anand beat me to it.”