Mumbai, Feb 19 (IANS) One More Thought Entertainment, a film production company launched earlier this month by Parvez Damania and Azam Khan that announced 12 movies at one go, seems to have got a good start as the banner's first venture, 'Tingya', received critical acclaim at Indian festival circuit.

'Tingya', a Marathi movie, has already bagged a number of awards. The latest one was the Best Actor Zee Alpha Gaurav Award 2008, which was given by Zee TV's Marathi channel, Zee Alpha.

Child actor Sharad Goyekar, who plays the title role of Tingya in the movie, won the award.

Interestingly, Goyekar, who comes from a village near Nagpur, did not have any acting experience before he was cast for the movie. Besides, it was Magesh Hadawale's maiden venture as a director. And that makes the award significant not only for the duo, but also for the movie's producer Ravi Rai.

Earlier, 'Tingya' was awarded the Best International Marathi Film Award at the Pune Film Festival. It was also selected for the Asian Film Festival and for the Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2008.

The movie has also been selected for the forthcoming Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI) Festival to be held in next month.

Thrilled at receiving these awards, Damania said: 'Azam Khan, Ravi Rai and myself are very happy that we have acquitted ourselves well in our first film. Our aim is to produce not just commercial movies but also contribute towards such meaningful and sensitive cinema. These awards have reinforced our faith and motivated us further to explore such subjects.'

Asked what motivated him to produce a movie on the problems of the farmers of Maharashtra, Ravi Rai told IANS: 'I always believe that, apart from providing entertainment, a movie has to say something relevant to the society we live in. 'Tingya' comments on the sorry state of affairs in our farm sector.'

The movie will be released theatrically in Maharashtra Feb 29.