The New York Indian Film Festival team, filmmakers and sponsors take a bow at the 2015 closing night awards ceremony. (Sangeeta Jain/NYIFF photo)

NEW YORK (IANS) — Director Aditya Vikram Sengupta's “Labour of Love” has won three top awards at the 15th edition of the New York Indian Film Festival: Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

The film, about how a union of souls is reduced to just another marriage under a spiraling recession, was one of the 50 features, documentaries and short films showcased at the longest-running South Asian film festival in the U.S.

Other winners included "Margarita with a Straw,” "Haraamkhor,” "Kaaka Muttai" and "Daughters of Mother India.”

NYIFF jurors and participating filmmakers presented awards to the following films/actors:

Best Film: “Labour of Love”

Best Director: Aditya Vikram Sengupta, “Labour of Love”

Best Screenplay: Aditya Vikram Sengupta, “Labour of Love”

Best Actor: Nawazzudin Siddiqui, “Haraamkhor”

Best Actress: Kalki Koechlin, “Margarita with a Straw”

Best Child Actor: J. Vignesh & Ramesh, “Kaakaa Muttai”

Best Short Film: “Seek & Hide,” Director Manoj Nitharwal

Best Documentary Film: “Daughters of Mother India,” Director Vibha Bakshi.

"We are so proud of our award-winning filmmakers and all the filmmakers who have showcased quality, independent cinema at our festival over the past week," said Aroon Shivdasani, director of NYIFF.

"The response from the community has been phenomenal, and we hope NYIFF continues to make a mark on the New York independent film circuit."

The festival was attended by Indian film industry glitterati such as Kalki Koechlin, Vishal Bhardwaj, Hansal Mehta, Shonali Bose, Anant Mahadevan, Mohan Agashe, L. Subramaniam, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Sharat Katariya and Vibha Bakshi.

In addition to screenings, the festival boasted a week of special events, industry panels and networking parties.