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THE SOUTH INDIAN INTERNATIONAL Movie Awards (SIIMA) is where stars of four regional film industries converge to honour the best cinematic achievements from south India.

By Sajila Saseedran (sajila@khaleejtimes.com)

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Published: Sun 15 Sep 2013, 4:11 PM

Last updated: Tue 7 Apr 2015, 5:04 PM

Kajal,Sridevi and Boney Kapoor

The second day of the second edition of SIIMA took place at the Sharjah Expo Centre on Friday night in the presence of a galaxy of stars from the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada film industries. Bollywood also made its presence felt through Shahid Kapoor, Sohail Khan, Boney Kapoor and the gorgeous Sridevi who received a special tribute at the show.

As with most award shows, SIIMA also had a late start after the celebrities slowly trickled on to the red carpet. Tamil and Telugu heroes Arya and Rana Daggubati hosted most part of the award ceremony while Shriya Saran and Ragini Dwivedi also pitched in.

The first performance of the night by Ragini, who went on to receive the Best Actress (Critics) Award in Kannada later, was marred by a wardrobe malfunction forcing an abrupt end to the Kannada dance medley. However, the model-turned-actress rose to the occasion when she had to face the stage again and handled the show smoothly.

Bollywood heartthrob Shahid Kapoor and Tollywood’s leading lady Ileana D’Cruz ensured enough promotion for their September 19 release Phata Poster Nikhla Hero before giving away the best comedian awards.

Shahid, who said it was his first appearance at a south Indian award function, received a lot of applause for matching steps to his Kaali Billi number from PPNK. However, the pair had to cool their heels as award winning comedian Suraj Venjaramoodu whose nomination clipping got swapped with that of another nominee Baburaj took off on a long speech in Malayalam.

Rana and Arya’s attempts to pep up the mood often went in vain. The way they tried to impose a 30 second time limit on speeches by award winners and made a dig at the CCL team Kerala Strikers, calling out the name of its owner Lissy Priyadarshan who was present at the show, did not go down well with the audience.

Rana dropping a tender coconut on Dhanush’s lap might have been taken sportively by the star, who later received the Best Actor Award (Popular) in Tamil for the movie 3. But the Kolaveri boy did express his reservations about the delay when the hosts went on to do an audience round while the stage was being set for another performance.

Dhanush personally apologised to the audience for the delay when he received the award towards the end of the show. He also praised the unity among the Kannada actors, who danced as a team on the stage, when Shivraj Kumar, who was crowned the Best Actor Popular in Kannada movie Shiva, was invited to join Usha Uthup during her performance.

Draped in a black and gold sari specially designed with SIIMA logo, Uthup took Priyamani, Amala Paul, Charmi, Ragini and Hansika along with Bollywood star Sohail Khan to the stage to do the Chin Ta Ta Chita Chita number. Though Priyamani did not “get on the dance floor” for her Chennai Express item dance, she went on to receive the Best Actress (Popular) Award for Kannada movie Charulatha.

Amala Paul won the same award for Run Baby Run in Malayalam. Rima Kallingal, who performed a dance medley to honour yesteryear’s leading ladies in Malayalam, bagged the Critics award for 22 Female Kottayam.

Sruthi Hassan and Hansika Motwani who won the Best Actress (Popular) Award in Telugu and Tamil also rocked the stage with their sizzling performances. An energetic Sruthi’s tomboyish aerial steps were worth watching and revived the audience’ memories about her father Kamal Hassan’s hit songs.

Nayanthara and Kajal Aggarwal who won the Best Actress (Critics) Award in Telugu and Tamil were the other star presence along with Trisha and Kavya Madhavan who received Special Appreciation Awards for their contribution to the south Indian film industry.

Madhavan spoke about his upcoming project (which will come out in Hindi and Tamil) for which he has shed his chocolate boy look. The actor bagged an award for best supporting role-male category for Tamil movie Vettai.

Malayalam matinee idol Mohanlal was conspicuous by his absence. When his name was called out for the Best Actor (Popular) Award for his performance in the movie Spirit, fans who were eagerly waiting for him were told of health reasons for his no-show.

The hosts also read out a message from Mohanlal, who termed the UAE as his second home and disclosed the advice from doctors to take two weeks’ bed rest.

However, the presence of Sridevi was cherished by all. Audience erupted in cheers when the Hawa Hawaii heroine appeared on stage in a red sari, accompanied by her husband Boney Kapoor to announce the awards for the best actresses from the south. Shriya Saran’s mesmerising steps for a host of hit numbers of Sridevi in various languages turned out to be a perfect tribute to her.

SIIMA also honoured Shaukar Janaki, who has shared 64 years of screen presence in the south Indian film industry, and Dr. K.J. Yesudas, who has sung over 50000 songs in 17 languages, with the Lifetime Achievement Award.


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