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Rahul Preeth
Doha
Tourism in Qatar is not just about its sea, sand and sun. Art and culture play a prominent part too. That was on display in the past weekend when the Lusail Multipurpose Hall rolled out a red carpet for some of the biggest names in the south Indian film industry.
Hosted for the first time in Qatar, the annual South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) has been celebrating the best in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films since its launch in 2012. It has been held thrice before in Dubai, as well as in Sharjah, Kaula Lumpur, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
The show’s eighth edition in Doha was hosted in association with the Qatar National Tourism Corporation and marks the “grand finale” of the nation-wide “Summer in Qatar” programme, which celebrates the country’s family, entertainment, retail, travel and hospitality offerings.
SIIMA 2019 drew thousands of mostly Indian expatriates in Qatar in a show of glitz and glamour amid a sea of celebrities, including Mohanlal and Chiranjeevi.
It will be telecast repeatedly on televisions across South India in the coming months and is likely to be one of the most-watched programmes in that region on YouTube.
The first night of SIIMA 2019 on Thursday was dedicated for achievements of the Kannada and Telugu films, while Friday saw those deemed best in the Malayalam and the Tamil movie industries being awarded.
Mohanlal, who was declared the most popular actor in the Middle East, called for support for the flood-hit people in Kerala. Interestingly, he also took home the award for the best debutant actor in Malayalam — on behalf of his son, Pranav, for his portrayal of a parkour-practising youngster finding his way out a peculiar predicament in 'Aadhi'.
‘Sudani from Nigeria’, which tells the story of a Nigerian football player who comes to stay in Kerala, bagged the coveted best-film award in Malayalam. Its director, newcomer Zakaria Mohammed, also took home the award for the best debutant director in Malayalam.
In the same language category, Tovino Thomas won the best actor’s award for ‘Theevandi’ and Aishwarya Lekshmi for ‘Varathan’. Prithvi Raj and Trisha went home with best actor (critics’ choice) awards from ‘Koode’ and ‘Hey Jude’. Sathyan Anthikkad was named the best director for his film ‘Njan Prakashan’.
In Tamil, ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ from Neelam Productions won the best film award.
Dhanush and Trisha were named the best actors in Tamil for ‘Vada Chennai’ and ‘96’. Vada Chennai also bagged the critic’s best film award.
In Telugu, Ram Charan’s role in ‘Rangasthalam’ won him the best actor award. Keerthy Suresh, who recently won a National Award for her portrayal of yesteryear actress Savitri, was adjudged as the best actress. Vijay Deverakonda won the best actor (critics’ choice) award.
In the Kannada film category, ‘KGF: Chapter 1’ took home big awards, with Yash and Prashant Neel winning the best actor and best director awards respectively.
Doha
Tourism in Qatar is not just about its sea, sand and sun. Art and culture play a prominent part too. That was on display in the past weekend when the Lusail Multipurpose Hall rolled out a red carpet for some of the biggest names in the south Indian film industry.
Hosted for the first time in Qatar, the annual South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) has been celebrating the best in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films since its launch in 2012. It has been held thrice before in Dubai, as well as in Sharjah, Kaula Lumpur, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.
The show’s eighth edition in Doha was hosted in association with the Qatar National Tourism Corporation and marks the “grand finale” of the nation-wide “Summer in Qatar” programme, which celebrates the country’s family, entertainment, retail, travel and hospitality offerings.
SIIMA 2019 drew thousands of mostly Indian expatriates in Qatar in a show of glitz and glamour amid a sea of celebrities, including Mohanlal and Chiranjeevi.
It will be telecast repeatedly on televisions across South India in the coming months and is likely to be one of the most-watched programmes in that region on YouTube.
The first night of SIIMA 2019 on Thursday was dedicated for achievements of the Kannada and Telugu films, while Friday saw those deemed best in the Malayalam and the Tamil movie industries being awarded.
Mohanlal, who was declared the most popular actor in the Middle East, called for support for the flood-hit people in Kerala. Interestingly, he also took home the award for the best debutant actor in Malayalam — on behalf of his son, Pranav, for his portrayal of a parkour-practising youngster finding his way out a peculiar predicament in 'Aadhi'.
‘Sudani from Nigeria’, which tells the story of a Nigerian football player who comes to stay in Kerala, bagged the coveted best-film award in Malayalam. Its director, newcomer Zakaria Mohammed, also took home the award for the best debutant director in Malayalam.
In the same language category, Tovino Thomas won the best actor’s award for ‘Theevandi’ and Aishwarya Lekshmi for ‘Varathan’. Prithvi Raj and Trisha went home with best actor (critics’ choice) awards from ‘Koode’ and ‘Hey Jude’. Sathyan Anthikkad was named the best director for his film ‘Njan Prakashan’.
In Tamil, ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ from Neelam Productions won the best film award.
Dhanush and Trisha were named the best actors in Tamil for ‘Vada Chennai’ and ‘96’. Vada Chennai also bagged the critic’s best film award.
In Telugu, Ram Charan’s role in ‘Rangasthalam’ won him the best actor award. Keerthy Suresh, who recently won a National Award for her portrayal of yesteryear actress Savitri, was adjudged as the best actress. Vijay Deverakonda won the best actor (critics’ choice) award.
In the Kannada film category, ‘KGF: Chapter 1’ took home big awards, with Yash and Prashant Neel winning the best actor and best director awards respectively.
