Host on a high

Kunal Khemu is really excited about playing the host of a big-budget event for the very first time. Although Kunal has anchored shows when he was in college, the Indian American Achiever's Awards, scheduled for September 13, 2007, at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. is bound to be a new experience for the actor. Kunal debuted in Bollywood with "Kalyug".

Says Kunal: "This is the first time ever that I will be anchoring a live event." But this anchoring stint does not mean that the actor is drifting away from acting. "Right now, I am concentrating solely on my career. This (anchoring the awards) is something very prestigious that has come my way."

The event is expected to be attended by the who's who of the NRI community in the US and many other VVIPs from the American bureaucracy. "This is the only reason why I accepted the proposal at the last minute," admits Kunal.

The nominees for these awards are from four fields --- innovation, science & technology, arts, and entertainment and media. The likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, A. R. Rahman, Narayana Murthy, Sam Pitroda, Dr Deepak Chopra, Bill Gates, Samuel J. Palmisano, chairman and CEO, IBM, Jeffrey R. Immelt, chairman, General Electric, W. James (Jim) McNerney, Jr. chairman, President and CEO, Boeing, Rupert Murdoch CEO, Tom Freston and Richard Gere have been nominated for the Indian American Achiever's Awards.

-(SAMPURN)