Thursday,
September
13,
2007
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
Shahrukh
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.