Actress Shivaanii Rai's short film 'Verses of War' winning Best Film award at Expo 2020 Dubai 

Actress Shivaanii Rai has garnered a lot of praise for her recently released short film Verses of War starring alongside Vivek Oberoi and Rohit Bose. The short film, produced by Vivek Oberoi, has bagged the Best Film award at The Great Indian Film Festival held at Expo 2020 Dubai. The three-day event sees several short films and documentaries get showcased by global filmmakers under one roof.

Expressing her joy on receiving the best film award she said,"It feels absolutely amazing, hard work paid off but it's just a start for me which is good for boosting up morale and motivation to keep me doing good in future."

Speaking about how surprising it was to get nominated for the film to win awards, she said,"I cant say that, we always get mixed reviews for maximum films that come every year. It was truly a surprise to win best film in few fests or even nomination in top 10 at prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke awards was a big thing."

Helmed by director Prasad Kadam, this film sees Shivaanii play an Army Officer's wife. When an Indian Army officer gets caught in Pakistan, the Pakistani officer finds a diary with him containing poems and verses. The story shows how the two gradually create a unique relationship after discovering their shared love for poetry and recitation and how that leads the Pakistani officer to meet his wife in India. What brings him to India forms a vital part of the plot.

The film was released on Republic Day and its earnings were contributed for the welfare of war widows.

Shivaanii feels that the OTT platforms have been a boon for struggling actors like her, where they can explore several options, though the struggle for an outsider still largely persists. Talking about the kind of roles she wants to play in future she says,"Right now, I am not in a position to choose the characters I play and I believe every role can be turned into an interesting one depending upon how much one can relate to the character,"