Recognition is something every human being expects and craves for. When it comes to film fraternity, when appreciation and respect come in the form of awards, the joy knows no bounds. And in fact, this is the major fillip for creative minds to scale greater heights.
Behindwoods had its BW Gold award evening on the 19th of July at Hotel Grand Chola in Chennai that turned out to be grander than the premises where the event was organized.
The evening was a star studded affair that witnessed the celebrities walking the Behindwoods Hall of Fame and the ramp in style. The spectacular show was attended by Kamal Haasan, A C Trilokchander, Pushpa Kandasamy, S A Chandrasekar, directors K Bhagyaraj, A R Murugadoss, K S Ravikumar, Vasanth, Parthiban, M Rajesh, Lingusamy, Pa.Ranjith, Karthik Subbaraj, Actors Siddharth, Prithviraj, Bobby Simha. Karunakaran, Ramesh Thilak, music directors Shankar Ganesh, Santhosh Narayanan, Nivas Prasanna, actresses Samantha, Hansika, Poornima Bhagyaraj, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, Mia George, Shivada Nair, Uma Riaz Khan and others. The technicians list includes PC Sreeram, Randy Rathnavelu, Editors Sreekar Prasad, Praveen KL, Anthony and many more. Lyricists Vairamuthu and Kabilan caught the audience’s attention with their choicest words.
The evening commenced with observing one minute silence for music director M S Viswanathan who left for his heavenly abode recently.
Generally awards are being conferred to categories like Best Actor/Best Actress and the likes. What made the Behindwoods Gold event stand out from the crop was its awards for categories that have not been normally bestowed upon. They are the ones for Best Dubbing artists, Best Make-Up artist, Best Audio label, Best Book on Tamil Cinema, Best Marketing to name some.
To honor a fellow media house is something extraordinary and special. Behindwoods stood tall when it chose to award The Hindu for Best English Print for Films, Dina Thanthi for Best Tamil Print for Films, Ananda Vikadan for Best Print Magazine for Films Promotion, Sun Music for Best Music Channel for Film’s Promotion and Vijay TV for Best Entertainment channel for Film’s Promotion.
The event’s highlight was certainly Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan being honored with K Balachander Gold Medal for Excellence in Indian Cinema. This was conferred upon the legend by veteran director A C Trilokchander.
The segment rendered many eyes moist and the late director was recalled with fond nostalgia by everyone.
Kamal said, “I am first happy to be a part of an award function sans dance rigmarole that is integral to such functions. And to get an award in the name of my Gurunathar is something that I would always cherish. I have had my tutelage under KB sir and I am extra proud of this fact when others are not lucky in this area”.
The event had its glamour and glitz when Samantha who won the Behindwoods Gold People’s Choice-Female, walked the ramp in her chick black LBD that had the crowd going in raptures. She was happy that the year 2014 turned out best for her.
Hansika in her fiery red outfit took the Behindwoods Gold award for Best Entertainer Female. The lady brought the audience to their feet when she did an impromptu jig of Darling Dambakku on the ramp and captivated their hearts.
Director A R Murugadoss bagged his award for Creator of the Best Film on Social issues for Kaththi. The director was reflective of the current situation in the industry when makers are constantly threatened on non-existent, creativity-jabbing issues. He very jocularly said, “These days it is even difficult to make a story on Ramayana because there would be somebody to come up with some kind of roadblocks even for that. I cannot keep fire for Hanumar’s tail because Animal Welfare Board will not approve of that (!!). During the time of Kaththi, I even regretted why I came to this industry but I am ever thankful to behindwoods who were very supportive to me during my troubled times”.
Director Pa.Ranjith is easily the toast of the town now after having bagged the prestigious offer of directing superstar Rajinikanth for his 3rd film. The soft spoken director took the centre stage for receiving the award for Best Story for his film Madras. On Rajini’s film, Ranjith says, “I am a fan of director Mahendran and his films. His Kaali of Mullum Malarum made a deep impact in me and I am trying to showcase that kind of character in my film with Rajini sir”.
The event stood out for some parental sentiment too. Incidentally there were quite a few celebrity parents who took home the awards for their children as their wards were not able to make it to the event due to prior commitments. S A Chandrasekar for his son Ilayathalapathy Vijay who won the People’s Choice Male, Kasthuri Raja for his son Dhanush who was the winner of Best entertainer Male, Lakshmi Ravichander for her son Anirudh who won Best Music director and singer Haricharan’s dad on his behalf for best singer male did the honors.
The audience had their ‘goosbumps’ moment when Vaikom Vijayalakshmi in her characteristic voice rendered “Kodaiyila Mazha Pola’ from Cuckoo. Her rendition without any instruments was totally top notch. And the young Uthara gave an encore of experience when she sang ‘Nadhi Pogum Koozhangal’ from Pisaasu and ‘Azahgae’ from Saivam.
The event got its musical touch with Nivas K Prasanna’s band who churned out lovely melodies from the evergreen old and new films. This was the perfect finale to the evening that had many happy nostalgic moments for the participants and the organizers.