Kabir Bedi honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Film Festival

Veteran actor Kabir Bedi, who has an extensive body of work in Italy, has brought pride to India after he was conferred with a lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday. The star was presented with the Filming Italy Movie Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Production Bridge market. 

According to Variety, the award was presented to the star by producer-actor Tiziana Rocca and Roberto Stabile. The actor who has served as an unofficial ambassador for Indo-Italian relations for some four decades spoke about his initiatives that would make the people of Italy focus on India. 

Kabir Bedi receives Lifetime Achievement Award at Venice Film Festival

As per the international media outlet, during his acceptance speech, the legendary actor said, "I have tried to make people in Italy focus on India for many years, and people in India focus on Italy." Having worked in an all-time favourite television series Sandokan, the actor said, "Since the time of Sandokan, I’ve done over six major series in Italy and not many people realize that really Bollywood and Hollywood are a far lesser part of my life than my career in Italy."

Sandokan, based on the novels by Emilio Salgari, features the dashing pirate hero who fought against the British colonisers. The television series began in 1976 and fired the Italian popular imagination, gathering a record 34% audience share. Apart from this, Bedi's other International projects include The Bold and the Beautiful, Dynasty, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I., Hunter, and many more. 

In 2021, Bedi had another hit with his autobiography “Stories I Must Tell: The Emotional Life of an Actor,” a bestseller in both India and Italy. On Friday, Bedi was honored with the Diva & Donna book of the year award at Venice, for the Italian translation of the book. In his cinematic years, Bedi has spanned three continents covering India, the United States, and especially Italy among other European countries in three media: film, television, and theatre. His early Bollywood hits include Khoon Bhari Maang, Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, and Kacche Dhaage among others. 

Image: Instagram/ikabirbedi