Malayalam, Tamil film industry legends wow audience at South Indian movie awards show
A number of stars from the South Indian film industry lit up Doha’s firmament on the second day of South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA), yesterday.
Taking South Indian cinema to an international arena, Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 awarded the best film making in Tamil and Malayalam cinema industry at the Lusail Indoor arena on the second day of the event.
Legendary Malayalam actor Mohanlal graced the evening as a guest of honour. He was also awarded as the Pantaloon SIIMA 2019 Most Popular Star in the Middle East. The award was presented by P Kumaran, Indian Ambassador to Qatar.
The glamorous evening honoured Menaka and Suresh Kumar with Lifetime Achievement Awards for their contribution to South Indian cinema.
Tovino Thomas (left), with Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 Best Actor Malayalam Award and Best Actor Tamil award was won by Danush for his performance in ‘Vada Chennai’
While presenting the awards, Mohanlal shared his experience of working in the same industry with Suresh Kumar for over 40 years. Also, two fans had the opportunity to have autograph and selfie with their heartthrob Mohanlal.
The second day of the event saw stars including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Tovino Thomas, Parvathy, Keerthy Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Saniya Iyapan and Sithara from Malayalam and Anirudh, Dhanush, Trisha, Aishwarya Rajesh, Varalaxmi Sarath Kumar, Radhika Sharath Kumar from Tamil.
Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 Best Actor Tamil was won by Danush for his performance in ‘Vada Chennai’ and actress by Trisha for her performance in the film ‘96’. Anirudh Ravichander was awarded as the Best Music Director in Tamil. He together with Danush performed their hit song Why this kolaveri briefly.
Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 Best Film Tamil critic was awarded to Vada Chennai a film by Danush and the best film Tamil was ‘Padiyerum Perumal’ and it was also recognised for best overall performance in South Indian cinema in year 2018.
Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 special award for child artist was given to Aarav Ravi.
Best Actor critics Malayalam was won by Prithviraj Sukumaran. Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 Best Actress Malayalam critics was won by Trisha. Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 Best Actor Malayalam was won by Tovino Thomas while Aishwarya Luxmi won the Best Actress Malayalam Award.
Best Director Tamil was awarded to Pandiraj for the film ‘Kadai Kutti Singham’ and Best Director Malayalam was Sathyan Andhikadu. The film ‘Sudani from Nigeria’ was the best Malayalam film.
Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 Style Icon Award was won by Samantha Akkineni. Best Cinematographer in Tamil was awarded to R D Rajashekar for the film ‘Imaika Nodikal’ and in Malayalam the award was won by Girish Gangadharan for the film ‘Swathanthryam Ardharathriyil’. Best Lyric Writer Tamil went to Vignesh Shivan and best Malayalam Lyric Writer Award was won by Vinayak Sasikumar. Best Playback Singer Tamil Male Award was won by Antony Dasan while Vijay Jesudas won the award in Malayalam. The awards were presented by Kithsiri Athulathmudali, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Qatar.
Best Playback Singer Tamil female was awarded to Dhee for the famous song ‘Rowdy Baby’, while Sithara Krishnan won the award for Malayalam. Best Debut Actor Tamil female was won by Raiza Wilson for the film ‘Peyar Premam Kadal’ and Best Debut Actor Tamil male was won by Dinesh Kumar for ‘Oru Kupai Kathai’.
Best Debut Director Tamil was awarded to Nelson Dileepkumar for the film ‘Koola Maavu Kohila’. Best Debut Director Malayalam was won by Zakaria for the film ‘Sudani from Nigeria’.
The awards were presented by Vivek Krishnani, Managing Director, Sony Pictures Entertainment India and Vishnu Induri, SIIMA Owner. Also, Hollywood producing giant Sony Pictures International’s entry into South Indian cinema was announced during the event.
Best Actress Tamil for supporting role female was awarded to Easwari Rao for the film ‘Kaala’ while Best Actor supporting role male was won by Prakash Raj for the film ‘Aruwathu Wayathu Maniram’. Best Comedian Tamil was won by Yogi Babu and Best Comedian Malayalam was awarded to Aju Varghese.
Best Actor Malayalam in a negative role was awarded to Sharafudheen for the film ‘Varathan’ and the award in Tamil was won by Varalaxmi.
The stars and audience also expressed their solidarity with flood victims of Kerala during the event. Mirchi Shiva, Janani Iyar and Pearle Manney hosted the second day of Pantaloons SIIMA 2019. SIIMA is the most-viewed award show in the industry, with awards across four languages Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.
Doha experienced highest number of Indian film artistes during the two-day Pantaloons SIIMA 2019 which gave away 100 awards in 50 categories. This year’s event recognised the best artistes and technicians of Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada films that were released in 2018.
A galaxy of South Indian stars performed during the award function. They included Devi Sri Prasad, Shriya Saran, Raai Laxmi, Oviya, Andrea Jaremiah, Nikhila Vimal, Nidhhi Agerwal, Manvitha Harish, Shanvi Srivatsava, Ashika Ranganath, Sharmiela Mandre, Saniya Iyappan and Anushree.
Among them Andria mesmerized audiences by performing a fusion of popular Tamil songs, while Nikhila and Laxmi entertained with their dance performance. The first day of the award ceremony recognised talents of Telungu And Kanada film industry. Being held during the current 2019 India-Qatar Year of Culture, SIIMA 2019 attracted thousands of South Indian cinema fans by attracting the industry’s biggest stars to Doha. More than 200 top Indian movie celebrities were in Doha to attend the event, according to organisers
The eighth SIIMA is held in partnership with Qatar National Tourism Council (QNTC), Ministry of Culture and Sports, Qatar Airways, Teyseer Motors, W Doha, Doha Bank, Al Mana Leasing, Gulf Car, Royal Regis, Talabat, Rayyan Water, and 98.6 Radio Malayalam.
