It was a blockbuster Monday in Hyderabad as Tollywood’s big-ticket films -- Baahubali and Srimanthudu -- walked away with the accolades on the final day of the inaugural IIFA Utsavam. While the Telugu film industry turned a new leaf in 2015 and infused fresh content and younger actors, it was the superstars who reigned supreme at the awards night, with Mahesh Babu bagging the ‘Best Actor’ award for Srimanthudu and star-director and recent Padma Shri awardee SS Rajamouli winning the best director award for his blockbuster film Baahubali: The Beginning.
While day one of the two-day awards ceremony staged Tamil and Malayalam cinema awards, day two acknowledged the work of stars from Telugu and Kannada film industries.
For the Telugu awards, Srimanthudu took home the highest number of accolades with a total tally of six awards including ‘Leading Role-Male’, ‘Leading Role-Female’, ‘Supporting Role-Male’, ‘Music Direction’, ‘Lyrics’, and ‘Playback Singer-Male’, Followed closely was Baahubali-The Beginning with five awards.
Apart from Mahesh, who bagged the lead actor award, Shruti Haasan too won the best actress award for her performance in the same movie.
For the Kannada awards, Rangitaranga took home the highest number of accolades with a total tally of six awards including Best Picture, Direction, Supporting Role Male, Negative Role, Music Direction and Lyrics.
The evening also witnessed performances by Tollywood superstars such as Tamannaah, Akhil Akkineni, Ram Charan and Shivraj. Prabhudeva and Shriya Saran also lit the stage on fire with some incredible moves and a stunning overall performance.
All the stars in attendance at the award ceremony gave an overwhelming stamp of approval to the first ever IIFA awards held in the south, which is also being organised as a fundraiser for the recent deluge in Chennai.
“IIFA Utsavam has truly created a momentous occasion by putting up a spectacular show and uniting the whole of South Indian film industry on a global platform. The decision to hold this event as a fundraiser is also commendable. I am already looking forward to being a part of the next IIFA Utsavam,” gushed actress Charmme Kaur.
After winning his award, superstar Mahesh Babu kept his speech short and simple and thanked director Koratala Siva for coming up with the script of Srimanthudu.
“I’m very pleased to receive this award for Srimanthudu and I’d like to thank all my well-wishers for this,” the superstar said.
Actress Shruti Haasan too, couldn’t contain her excitement after winning the Best Actress award. “Every actress aspires to take up meaty roles, but it’s not everyday that you get a film like Srimanthudu, where everything falls in to place so well. I must thank Koratala Siva and Mahesh Babu for their support and I think we were all blessed to be part of such a good project. I’m thrilled to win this awards and, like always, I dedicate this award to the audience for their love and support,” she exclaimed.
Winners list Telugu
Best Film – Baahubali: The Beginning
Best Actor – Mahesh Babu, Srimanthudu
Best Actress – Shruti Haasan, Srimanthudu
Best Director – SS Rajamouli,
Baahubali: The Beginning
Best Supporting Actor
Jagapathi Babu, Srimanthudu
Best Supporting Actress
Ramya Krishnan, Baahubali: The Beginning
Winners list Kannada
Best Film – Rangitaranga
Best Actor – Yash, Mr & Mrs Ramachari
Best Actress – Radhika Pandit, Mr & Mrs Ramachari
Best Director – Anup Bhandari, Rangitaranga
Best Supporting Actor – Sai Kumar, Rangitaranga
Best Supporting Actress – Lakshmi Raj, Krishna Leela