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South Indian movie stars dazzle in Dubai

The first of the two-night SIIMA Awards 2018 event honoured stars as it celebrated excellence in a show-stopping ceremony

It was cultural integration at its best as the seventh edition of the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) took off in Dubai on Friday, at Bollywood Parks, Dubai Parks and Resorts.
United in their cause to bolster South Indian cinema to a global platform, leading names from South Indian states Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka showcased the finest from their respective states. 
The first night of the two-day award show had several highlights including an exclusive sneak peek of Tamil veteran Chiyaan Vikram's Saamy 2 and a groovy performance by Malayalam heartthrob Vineeth Sreenivasan.
Despite the poor turnout and haphazard last-minute organisation of the event, top names from Kerala and Tamil film industry such as - R. Madhavan, Nivin Pauly, Shane Nigam, Aju Varghese, Aishwarya Nair, Aditi Balan, Hansika Motwani, Vasanth Ravi, and Sid Sriram walked away with the awards for their performances in Tamil and Malayalam cinema.
Vikram, along with his co-stars Keerthy Suresh and the makers of Saamy 2, gave the audience an exclusive glimpse into Vikram's upcoming movie, a prequel to Saamy which was released in 2003. Fans present at venue cheered loudly as the sequel was announced 15 years after the release of the first movie.
Stylised as Saamy Square, the movie's release is a highly anticipated one.
"I am very proud and happy to announce the upcoming release on September 21," said Vikram as he congratulated the award winners.
Answering a question on how he has managed to look exactly like how he did in the 2003 prequel, Vikram joked, "I have to thank our talented computer graphics team."
Vikram's co-star Keerthy said, "It is a dream come true to work with Vikram and the rest of the team. I am very excited about the release of Saamy Square."
P. Shusheela bestowed with lifetime achievement award
A truly memorable highlight of the night was when SIIMA bestowed the Lifetime Achievement award on playback singer P. Susheela. The octogenarian has been associated with South Indian music for over six decades and has sung over 40,000 film songs across a number of South Indian languages. Fans were in tears as she sang a few lines from her hit Naalai Intha Velai Paarthu from the Tamil film Uyarndha Manidhan. Susheela, who was accompanied on stage by Malayalam playback singer K.S. Chithra, hailed Chithra as one of the finest singers of her generation. "I am a Telugu woman. I began my career in 1951 and sang my last song in 2012. I've been singing for 66 years," Susheela said.  "Events like SIIMA encourage actors in the South to achieve a lot more. They become much larger than life," added the legend.
Speaking about Susheela's singing prowess, Tamil actress Khushbu Sundar said, "This generation is blessed to have experienced the music of P. Susheela. There are not enough words to explain her brilliance. She has given South Indian music so much and has left a legacy for hundreds of generations to come."
Nivin Pauly excited about his new movie
Nivin Pauly can't wait for the release of his movie Kayamkulam Kochunni. The actor who picked up the Best Actor (Malayalam) award for his role in Njandukalude Nattil Oridavel, told City Times that he is very excited about his upcoming action movie Kayamkulam Kochunni. "I underwent a lot of physical and emotional changes throughout the course of the nine-month shoot. I had to learn Kalari. It was a challenging one and it was strenuous. I have high hopes for the movie, and am expecting the audience to love it as well," Nivin said.
 
Dhanusha Gokulan
dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com