South Indian International Movie Awards ends its inaugural outing in Singapore on a high note
SINGAPORE - The second night of the South Indian International Movie Awards was a rollicking show that stretched into the early hours of the morning with high-energy performances by some of the brightest stars in the South Indian film industry.
The second part of the awards, held yesterday at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, honoured the best in the Tamil and Malayalam film industries. The first part of the awards on Thursday evening recognised winners from the Telugu and Kannada film industries.
Actress Nayanthara, whose given name is Diana Mariam Kurian, swept the Best Actress award for both the Tamil and Malayalam film categories. She won for her roles in the Tamil comedy Naanum Rowdydhaan (Even I Am Rowdy) and the Malayalam film Bhaskar the Rascal.
She drew excited cheers from the audience, which numbered more than 4,000, when she requested to receive her Best Actress (Tamil) award from the film's director Vignesh Shivan - who won Best Director (Tamil) - and they shared a hug on stage. She is said to be romantically linked to him.
The film Naanum Rowdydhaan also bagged Best Comedian, Best Music Director and Best Playback Singer (Male), making it the big winner for Tamil films.
The film that received the most awards last night, however, was the coming-of-age Malayalam film Premam, which bagged six awards, including Best Director, Best Actor (Critic's Choice) and the coveted Best Film award.
A total of 36 awards were given out last night and the ceremony ran on until 1.45am today. This led many award recipients, including Best Actor (Tamil) winner Vikram, to begin their acceptance speeches with "Good morning" and the 50-year-old actor jokingly dedicated his award "to everyone here for staying so late."
The ceremony included dances performed by actresses Vedhika, Hansika Motwani and Huma Qureshi to hit Tamil and Malayalam songs and a live set by composer-music director Anirudh Ravichander, which had the audience on their feet and actor Allu Arjun dancing on stage and in the crowd.
This was the fifth edition of the awards that started in 2012. It was held twice in Dubai, as well as in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and in Kuala Lumpur. This was the award's first time in Singapore and it was presented by the Singapore Press Holdings' Tamil-language publications Tamil Murasu and tabla! and events company De Ideaz.
MAJOR WINNERS
Best Movie: Thani Oruvan (Tamil) and Premam (Malayalam)
Best Actor: Vikram for I (Tamil) and Prithviraj for Ennu Ninte Moideen (Malayalam)
Best Actress: Nayanthara for Naanum Rowdydhaan (Tamil) and Bhaskar the Rascal (Malayalam)
Best Director: Vignesh Shivan for Naanum Rowdydhaan (Tamil) and Alphonse Puthren for Premam (Malayalam)
Best Music Director: Anirudh Ravichander for Naanum Rowdydhaan (Tamil) and Rajesh Murugesan for Premam (Malayalam)
Lifetime achievement award: Panchu Arunachalam
