CINEMA, SHENANIGANS AND SUPERSTARS: SIIMA 2016 WAS A

6
CHENNAI TIMES
TUESDAY 5 JULY 2016
BACKBEAT
Pics: T Malikarjun
FROM THE SIDELINES
CINEMA,
SHENANIGANS
AND SUPERSTARS:
SIIMA 2016 WAS
A SMASH HIT
Aishwarya
Rajesh
S JANAKI TURNED IT INTO AN 80s PARTY
ON STAGE…
Veteran of over 48,000 songs in south Indian cinema as well as Bollywood, S Janaki, was
honoured with a Lifetime Achievement
Award. As a tribute, Usha Uthup, who is a
self-confessed fan of Janaki amma, performed a
medley of her timeless hits. The 78-year-old
Janaki proved that her music is timeless indeed
when she got on stage and rendered a few lines
from all the songs she’s sung for the actresses
present there — Suhasini, Khushbu, Sripriya,
Radikaa et al. She ended her acceptance speech
by lisping, “Thank you very much” in a toddler’s voice.
MEGA MOMENT ON STAGE
Rakul Preet Singh
WINNERS
„BEST FILM | Thani Oruvan
„BEST ACTOR | Vikram for I
„BEST ACTRESS | Nayanthara for
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
„BEST DIRECTOR | Vignesh Shivan for
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
„BEST ACTOR (Critics) | Jayam Ravi
for Thani Oruvan
„ BEST ACTRESS (Critics) |
Nithya Menen for O Kadhal Kanmani
„ BEST COMEDIAN |
RJ Balaji for Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
„ BEST DEBUTANT ACTOR
(Male) | GV Prakash for Darling
„BEST DEBUTANT ACTOR
(Female) | Keerthy Suresh for Idhu
Enna Maayam
„ BEST MUSIC DIRECTOR |
Anirudh for Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
„ MOST STREAMED SONG OF THE
YEAR | Devi Sri Prasad for Yendi Yendi
from Puli
„BEST PLAYBACK SINGER
(Male) | Anirudh for Thangamey from
Naanum Rowdy Dhaan
„ BEST PLAYBACK SINGER
(Female) | Shwetha Mohan for Enna
Solla from Thangamagan
„ BEST LYRICIST | Vairamuthu for
O Kadhal Kanmani
„ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
(Male) | Prakash Raj for O Kadhal
Kanmani
„ BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
(Female) | Radikaa Sarathkumar for
Thangamagan
„ BEST ACTOR IN A NEGATIVE
ROLE | Arun Vijay for Yennai Arindhaal
SPECIAL AWARDS OF THE NIGHT
„ LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
| S Janaki and Panchu Arunachalam
„ YOUTH ICON OF SOUTH INDIA |
Samantha
„ BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER | KK
Senthil Kumar for Bãhubali - The
Beginning
„ BEST FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY |
Peter Hein for Bãhubali - The Beginning
„ BEST DANCE CHOREOGRAPHY |
Jani for Temper
„ BEST DEBUTANT PRODUCER | Vijay
Kumar Reddy and Sashidhar Reddy for
Bhale Manchi Roju
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 all his yesteryear heroines on stage, including Radikaa (with whom he’s done many films)
and Suhasini. Taking him by surprise, 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 empathy he has
towards everybody. The mega bonhomie ended
with all the actors crowding around Chiru for a
mega selfie.
DSP SINGS FOR HIS DAD
Anirudh
In what was an emotional moment, the usually
boisterous and upbeat Devi Sri Prasad turned
somber when he was asked to sing a few lines on
stage after he picked up his award for Best
Music Director (Telugu). “This is a song I wrote
for my dad, and I dedicate this all those loving
dads out there who made this life possible for
us…” he said, and went on to croon a few lines of
Naanaku Prematho… choking with emotion all
the while.
Hansika
ALLU ARAVIND WAS THE VILLAIN IN
RANA’S LIFE
Christina.Francis@timesgroup.com
litz and glamour, pomp and
show, grit and glory, awards
and accolades — Godrej
Goldilocks SIIMA 2016, in its fifth edition, had all the trappings of a perfect
south Indian potboiler. The red carpet shenanigans of reigning divas of
tinseltown set the temperatures soaring, the high octane naach-gaana and
drama on stage kept the entertainment quotient at an all-time high.
And of course, for all those who
walked away with awards in hand,
there was a happy ending, too.
Held at the swanky Suntec
Convention and Exhibition Centre,
Singapore, the two-day extravaganza
that celebrates south Indian cinema
and recognises talent from Tamil,
Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada
film industries got off to a glitzy start
on Day 1, with Rana Daggubati welcoming Singapore’s south Indian
diaspora in true filmy fashion, complete with a punch dialogue. Taking
the baton from him were hosts for the
evening, Lakshmi Manchu and Ali,
who kept the audience in splits with
their easy banter throughout the
G
four-hour
show.
Sandalwood’s
Akul
brought in a fresh dash of
humour with his brilliant
emceeing as well. The first
evening, which awarded the best
talent of Telugu and Kannada films
of 2015, saw a stellar attendance
from stars across the south, including matinee idols Chiranjeevi,
Khushbu, Vikram, Suhasini, Rana,
Allu Arjun, Puneeth Rajkumar,
Nithya Menen, and more. Huma
Qureshi’s presence added some
Bollywood glam to the do, while
Kabir Bedi made an appearance to
mark his foray into South cinema.
The stalwarts cheered on as veteran
playback singer S Janaki was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement
Award.
Brilliantly choreographed song
and dance acts by Pragya Jaiswal,
Pranitha Subhash and Rachita Ram
added a filmy tadka to the show. The
highlight, however, was Sayeesha’s
tribute to the big four of Telugu cinema — Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna,
Venkatesh and Balakrishna. In
what was her first ever stage performance, she shimmied to hit
numbers of all four stalwarts and
also pulled off Chiru’s iconic
“Veena Step” like no one else
did before. Devi Sri Prasad
impressed with a high-energy
gig, which had the whole
THE WINNERS TAKE IT ALL
Amyra
Devi Sri Prasad
crowd
on
its
feet.
Day 2,
which was dedicated to Tamil and
Malayalam films,
saw the auditorium
packed to capacity with
Singapore’s
milling
Tamil-speaking population. And keeping them
entertained were a bunch of funny
men and lovely women — Shiva,
Sathish, Ranjini Haridas and
Dhanya.
Star power on Day 2 was stellar too
— with Vikram, Nivin Pauly,
Prithviraj, Nayanthara, Radhika
Apte and more making their presence felt. Veteran filmmaker Panchu
Arunachalam was honoured with a
Lifetime
Achievement
Award.
Hansika, Amyra Dastur, Aishwarya
Rajesh and Huma Qureshi put up
some sexy performances. Kerala’s
Neeraj Madhav was the only male
actor to perform; and he set some
pretty high standards. The rockstar
of the evening though was Anirudh.
He made a smashing entry, complete with exotic dancers and dragons, and had the crowd on its feet
for 10 whole minutes; that too at
2.30 am! It was a fitting finale to
the grand filmy weekend.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS
When Rana Daggubati was presented the award
for Best Actor in a Negative Role by Allu Aravind
for his Bhallaladeva act in Bãhubali, Rana told
Allu Aravind, “I’m happy to receive this award
from you, ’cos you are the villain in my life.” Then
he looked at Chiranjeevi and added, amidst
chuckles, “You may not believe this, but as kids,
neither was Charan scared of you nor was I of my
dad. But both of us were terrified of him. If we
bunked a class or failed in a subject, he would get
to know and ensure everyone knew about it.”
AKUL CALLS SHRUTI HAASAN
‘HARIHARAN’; SATHISH TURNS RAKUL
INTO RAHUL
This is one slip of the tongue that funny man
Akul won’t forget anytime soon. The actor, who
was one of the co-hosts for the evening, meant to
call Shruti Haasan on stage to give away an
award but ended up saying “Shruti
Hariharan…” Though he was quick to correct
himself, Shruti didn’t seem amused with the
faux pas. She’s later said to have hunted down
Akul to ask him why he changed her dad’s
name! Akul apparently hosts a TV show of
which Shruti Hariharan is also a part of. “I am
so used to saying Shruti Hariharan that it just
slipped out of my mouth…” Luckily for Akul
though, Shruti took it all in good humour.
Meanwhile, Sathish, who was co-hosting Day 2,
called Rakul Preet Singh ‘Rahul Preet Singh’.
“Rahul!?” Rakul asked, laughing, while Sathish
corrected himself.
SUHASINI’S WORD OF ADVICE
Tired of the sexist nature of jokes doled out by
the men, led by Ali on Day 1, and Shiva and
Sathish on Day 2, Suhasini made an interesting
comment: “You guys are doing an excellent job,
keeping us all entertained with you quick wit.
But one request please — avoid poking fun at
women and kids... that’s in bad taste.” Truer
words were never spoken.
ALLU ARJUN BREAKS INTO A TEEN
MAAR DANCE
Vikram
Nayanthara gets her award
from Vignesh Shivan
Radikaa, Khushbu hand
over the Lifetime
Achievement Award to
Panchu Arunachalam. Also
seen is Brinda Prasad
Rajesh Krishnamurthy,
Himalaya presents the award
to Vignesh Shivan
Jayam Ravi
Nithya Menen
In Anirudh’s highlight act, he went off the stage
and did a lil’ jig with almost everyone seated
among the guests. But Allu Arjun took it one
step further when he followed Anirudh’s cue
and got on stage with him, and broke into a
impromptu teen maar dance, in total mass style.
Gotta love the stylish star for the sport that he is.
Chiranjeevi presents
the Lifetime
Achievement Award
to songstress S
Janaki
RED HAUTE ON THE RED CARPET
STAR-STUDDED
Samantha and
Shruti Haasan
Rana
Daggubati
Allu Arjun
Radhika
Apte
Keerthy
Suresh
Brinda
Prasad
Nayanthara
Shriya Saran
Vedhika
Pranitha