This year between 15th and 16 August, the Lusail Sports Arena in Doha hosted the 8th South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA). It was part of Qatar’s National Tourism Council summer program. The event attracted legendary actors including Mohanlal and Chiranjeevi to celebrate South Indian Cinema in categories including Telegu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil. Additionally, this event allowed cultural exchange and initiative between India and Qatar to mark celebration for the Qatar-India Year of Culture 2019.
Organization of the event
The event attracted Indian international fashion designers and chefs to mark the activities that take place between the two countries. Indian nationals to Qatar enjoyed the visa-on-arrival facility to make smooth transition for those who attended the event. This initiative was to attract more Indians into Qatar to encourage investment opportunities and to attract visitors to various sites. The awards have been hosted in various countries from the first 2012 edition.
South Indian International Movie Awards are not any two-day event that can be organized in a stadium or auditorium. This event generated viewership in about 129 countries across the globe with broadcasts in various channels. The last event held in 2018 attracted about 1.5 billion impressions on social media and one held this year attracted much more.
Buzz about the event
The SIIMA Awards 2019 ceremony was one of the most anticipated events for Telegu movie fans. These awards include nominations for people who made an impact in Tollywood with the nomination list released months back. This gives movie lovers to nominate their favorite Telegu actors to win awards for their mark in the industry. Some people who were nominated include:
- Mahanati
- Rangasthalam
- Aravinda Sametha
- Bharat Ane Nenu
Here is a list of some of SIIMA Award winners
Devi Sri Prasad
Prasad walked away with the SIIMA Award for the best Telugu music director. His phenomenal musical contribution to the industry was recognized in movies including Rangasthalam. This film fetched Rangasthalam the best Telugu music director. Additionally, most of his songs in the movie became chartbusters.
Priya Rajput
A household name among Telegu movie fans, Priya bagged the SIIMA Award for best debut female actress. The budding actress created a star for her appearance in her movie debut RX 100. Her exceptional performance impressed Telegu movie critics and movie lovers. It is no wonder that this year, her contribution to the industry made her win the debut female actress in Tollywood.
Rangathalam
Anasuya Bhardwaj picked the SIIMA Award for the best-supporting actress in Telugu cinema on behalf of Rangathalam. Her extraordinary performance impressed Telegu movie lovers making it right to give her this accolade.
Ajay Bhupathi
Priya Rajput won the award for the best debut female actress for her role in RX 100. Well, this movie won Ajay Bhupathi the award for best debut director for Telugu cinema. When receiving the award, Ajay Bhupathi appreciated recognition for his role in the movie industry and pledge to continue making contributions to Tollywood for years to come.
Rajendra Prasad
For his role in the Ram Charan movie Rangathalam, Prasad walked away with the SIIMA Award for the best actor supporting Telugu movies. This was another film that got various nominations and got various awards during the award nights.
Sukumar
Known for his ability to keep the audience glued to their toes with gripping stories and experiences, Sukumar walked away with the SIIMI Award for best director Telugu cinema. This was for his exceptional directing work for the movie Rangathalam. It is no wonder that the movie was on a winning streak during the event nights making it to bag various awards.
Keerti Suresh
This was one of the most anticipated categories Telegu movie lovers looked forward to. Keerti Suresh walked away with this prestigious award for her exceptional performance as Savitri in ‘mahanati’. Her beauty and charm aced her way through to walk away with the SIIMA Award for best actress for Telugu cinema. She also received a National award for playing the same character.
Vijay Deverakonda
Telegu movie fans found no better choice than Vijay Deverakonda for the SIIMA Best actor critics’ choice award. The year before had also been wonderful for Vijay with two big hits. This year’s SIIMA award for Vijay was for his amazing performance in the film Geetha Govindam.
Sathya
The South Indian International Movie Awards also recognize comedians for their special and rare talent. This year, the SIIMA Award for Best comedian Telugu movie was won by Sathya. His ability to crack people’s ribs in the film Chalo made him walk away with this award.
In conclusion
Those are some of the highlights from the 2019 South Indian International Movie Awards held in Doha, Qatar. You can always look up to a reliable entertainment blog with other trending news regarding Telugu movie news. This will always give you insight into what film your favorite actor is releasing next and other trending news in the industry.
