Author Salman Rushdie and filmmaker Mira Nair have been honored for their commitment and contributions to the global artistic community by The Indo-American Arts Council(IAAC). (IAAC) honoured the two along with renowned Indian-American pathologist Majula Bansal as it commemorates its 15th anniversary this year to celebrate its contributions of Indian performing, visual and literary arts to New York City’s diverse cultural scene. The gala night was held on Thursday(Nov 21) at the Angel Orensanz Foundation of Contemporary Art. Since 15 years, IAAC is on a mission of promoting and building awareness of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America.

“The IAAC is a teenager at the brink of maturity. I look forward to seeing her as an adult exulting in the recognition and celebration of artists of Indian origin in the performing, visual and literary arts,” Aroon Shivdasani, executive director and founding member, IAAC, said in a statement.

IAAC represents various artistic disciplines, including theatre, dance, music, film, folk arts, literature and fashion and focusses on promoting awareness of Indian and cross- cultural art forms. The event also comprised of  performances by singer-songwriter-composer Paul Williams with pianist-composer Kenny Ascher. It also had a fashion show featuring the designs of Manish Arora. The celebrity attendees who were present at the event were actor Lisa Ray, chef and author Madhur Jaffrey, actor Sarita Choudhury and writer-filmmaker Sabrina Dhawan.