6 TIMES, THE TIMES OF BACKBEAT TUESDAY 5 JULY 2016

T Mallikarjun

Shanvi Srivastav STARS, SHENANIGANS AND SUPERSTARS: SIIMA

2016 WAS A SMASH HIT Christina.Francis@ ence added some timesgroup.com glam to the do, while Kabir Bedi made an appearance to litz and glamour, mark his foray into South cin- pomp and show, grit ema. The stalwarts cheered on G and glory, awards and as veteran playback singer S accolades — Godrej Goldi- Janaki was honoured with a locks SIIMA 2016, in its fifth Lifetime Achievement award. edition, had all the trappings Song and dance acts by of a perfect South Indian pot- , Pranitha boiler. If the red carpet Subhash and Rachita Ram shenanigans of reigning divas added a filmi tadka to the of tinseltown set the tempera- show. The highlight was Saye- tures soaring, the high octane esha’s tribute to the big four of Samantha, Haasan and naach-gaana and drama on — , stage kept the entertainment , and quotient at an all-time high. Balakrishna. She shimmied to And, of course, for all those hit numbers of the stalwarts who walked away with awards and pulled off Chiru’s iconic in hand, there was a happy ‘veena step’. Devi Sri Prasad’s ending too. high-energy gig had the whole Held at the Suntec Con- crowd on its feet. vention and Exhibition Cen- Day 2, which was dedicated tre, , the two-day to Tamil and films, extravaganza that celebrates saw the auditorium packed to South Indian cinema and rec- capacity. And keeping them ognizes talent from the entertained were a bunch of , Tamil, Telugu and funny men and lovely women Malayalam film industries got — Shiva, Sateesh, Ranjini off to a glitzy start on Day 1, Haridas and Dhanya. Star with welcom- power was stellar too — with Rana ing Singapore’s South Indian , Nivin Pauly,Prithvir- Hansika Vikram Daggubati diaspora in true filmi fashion, aj, Nayanthara, Radhika Apte complete with a punch dia- and more making their pres- logue. Taking the baton from ence felt. Veteran filmmaker him were hosts for the eve- Panchu Arunachalam was ning, Manchu and honoured with a Lifetime Ali, who kept the audience in Achievement award. Hansika, splits with their easy banter Amyra Dastur, Aishwarya Ra- through the show. Sandalwo- jesh and put up od’s Akul Balaji brought in a some sexy performances. fresh dash of humour with his Mollywood’s Neeraj Madhav brilliant emceeing as well. The performed and set some pretty first evening, which awarded high standards. The rockstar the best talent of Telugu and of the evening though was Rajesh Kannada films of 2015, saw a Anirudh. He made a smashing Ashok Kheny Brinda Prasad CJ Roy Krishnamurthy stellar attendance from stars entry, complete with exotic across the South, including dancers and dragons, and had matinee idols Chiranjeevi, the crowd on its feet for 10 MEGA SELFIE MOMENT ON STAGE , Vikram, Suhasini, whole minutes; that too at 2.30 Rana, Allu Arjun, Puneeth in the morning. It was a fitting , , and finale to the grand filmi week- more. Huma Qureshi’s pres- end. ’S BIG WINNERS

In a fitting tribute to Chiranjeevi, a montage of all the greatest moments from the Megastar’s career was played on stage. But what made the moment truly special was when he was joined by Puneeth Anup Ninasam NS all his yesteryear heroines on stage, including Radikaa, with Rajkumar Bhandari Satish Rajkumar whom he’s done scores of films and Suhasini. Taking him by sur- prise, Suhasini broke into a song: “Malli malli idi raani roju…” getting Chiru all moist-eyed. Allu Aravind called him “the most wonderful human being”, who still surprises him with the empa- thy he has towards everybody. The Mega bonhomie ended with all the actors crowding around Chiru for a mega selfie.

KANNADA AWARD WINNERS Best Film: Mythri Manvitha Saikumar Chikkanna Arjun Janya Harish Best Actor: () Best Actress: Rachita Ram (Ranna) Best Director: () Best Actor - Critics: Ninasam Satish (Rocket) Best Actress - Critics: Shanvi Srivastava (Masterpiece) Best Comedian: Chikkanna (Masterpiece) Best Debutant Director: Anup Bhandari (RangiTaranga) Vinay Tejaswini Pannaga Best Debutant Actor (Male): Vinay Rajkumar (Siddhartha) Rajkumar Prakash Bharana Inchara Rao Best Debutant Actor (Female): Manvitha Harish (Kendasampige) Best Music Director: Arjun Janya (Vajrakaya) S JANAKI MAKES IT AN 80S PARTY ONSTAGE… Most streamed song of the year: No problem - Arjun Janya Veteran of over 48,000 songs in South Indian cinema as well as Bollywood, S Janaki, was honoured with a lifetime achieve- (Vajrakaya) ment award. As a tribute, Usha Uthup, who is a self-confessed Best Playback Singer (Male): Santosh - Rajarani (Rhaatee) fan of Janakiamma, performed a medley of all her timeless Best Playback Singer (Female): Inchara Rao - Kareyole hits. The 78-year-old singer proved that her music is timeless (RangiTaranga) indeed when she got onstage and rendered a few lines from all Best Lyricist: Anup Bhandari — Ee Sanje (RangiTaranga) the songs she’s sung for the actresses present Best Supporting Actor (Male): Pannaga Bharana (Mrugashira) there — Suhasini, Khu- Best Supporting Actor (Female): Tejaswini Prakash (Goolihatti) shbu, , Rad- Best Actor in a Negative Role: Saikumar (RangiTaranga) ikaa, et al. The singer, known for her versatile SPECIAL AWARDS voice, proved that she can sing in a child’s Youth Icon of : Samantha voice even today, and Lifetime Achievement Award: S.Janaki and Panchu Arunachalam ended her acceptance speech by lisping, RNI No. KARENG/ 2007/20799 “Thank you very VOLUME No. 9 ISSUE No. 340 Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. by R.J. Prakashan at 40/1, S&B Towers, M.G. Road, much” in a toddler’s Bengaluru 560 001 and printed by him at No. 9/10/11-A, 4th main, Bommasandra Industrial Area, Hosur Road, Bengaluru Usha Uthup, S Janaki and Chiranjeevi 560099. Registered office: Dr. D.N. Road, 400001. Editor (Bengaluru Market): Kavya Christopher, responsible for voice. selection of news under PRB Act. © All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission of the Publisher is prohibited. Circulated with in Bengaluru and adjoining areas.