SOUTH INDIAN INTERNATIONAL MOVIE AWARDS (SIIMA)

Superstars, Red Carpet, Flash bulbs popping, fans going hysterical. The first South Indian International Movie Award (SIIMA) promise to have it all. For the first time in the history of Indian cinema South India will have its own awards which will travel abroad. SIIMA will reward the best works in the Telugu ,Tamil, Malayalam and the Kannada film Industry. The 2012 awards will be held on June 21st and 22nd in Dubai. This will be one of the most anticipated and globally televised awards ceremony involving the works of four different film industries. SIIMA is looking at promoting the south Indian film Industry on a global platform.Though the South Indian film industry constitutes for the largest number of films released in India and the Indian Box office collections of a hit South Indian movie is at par with any hit Bollywood Movie, the overseas revenue of South Indian movie is 10% of the same kind of Bollywood movie.

Industry sources feel that SIIMA will help South Indian Cinema reach out to its global audience and in turn help in the increase of overseas revenues. SIIMA will reward the greatest cinema achievements of the year 2011 who will be nominated by a jury of artists and professionals from all the four industries. The awards will be presented for individuals who have excelled in various categories .The nominees who have been shortlisted by the jury will then be voted by their fans across the globe by various mediums of print, online and messages. The winners for the awards will be selected based on these polls. The gala awards night promises to be a star studded affair with popular actor Madhavan and Lakshmi Manchu hosting the whole show. The starlit evening will also see performances by Sameera Reddy, Shruti Hassan , Hansika Motwani, Amla Paul and many more. The event will be a two day affair where in the first day will be the next gen awards where in awards for five popular categories will be given away.

The will be a red carpet preview of the most anticipated movie as well on the first day where in the whole star cast of the movie will be accompanied by their folks from the four industries. The awards night will be a super glittering affair with performances by some of the top actors and actresses from the four industries. This will be one of the largest gatherings of stars at an International venue. The nominees for the awards will be informed at glittering events and pre parties held across the country.While awarding the works of film industry SIIMA also realises the efforts that have been put in by the people who are behind the scenes and as a social responsibility SIIMA plans to educate 25 kids of the technicians, cameraman, spot guys etc from the four different film industries. SIIMA will be an annual affair and promises to take South Indian movies to new territories which have been never explored before hence enhancing its reach. From the setup ,performances, after parties and to the many other events that will be held on the sidelines of the two day event, its going to be an action packed weekend.

What is SIIMA

SIIMA, an acronym for South Indian International Movie Awards, is a one-of-its-kind endeavor to present South Indian Cinema on a global platform. Spearheaded by the pioneers of Celebrity Cricket League (CCL), SIIMA promises to be an event that film lovers across the world would sit up and watch with bated breath.As Indian cinema is making a strong impact globally, it’s time for South Indian Cinema to claim its due space in the realm of world cinema. It’s time for Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam industries to occupy centre stage. It’s time to put our hands together to welcome SIIMA.

SIIMA Awards night, scheduled to be held on 21st & 22nd June, 2012 in Dubai -the Mecca of good things in life, is a magic waiting to unfold. It will be a celebration to honor the abundant talent in south cinema in addition to bringing fans and their favorite stars closer. Film lovers, supporters, fraternity and admirers from all over the world will come together to celebrate South Cinema while millions across the globe will witness history being made on their television screens.

The awards night will be packed with scintillating performances and breathtaking acts by some of the most hep and happening stars from the four industries. Our channel partner is SUN Network. The program will be telecast soon after the live event on all the channels of the network.Nominations: – From the films that were released in the year 2011 in the four south Indian languages – Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam, an eminent jury – a panel film personalities consisting of the following have shortlisted the nominations for various categories.

• Shyam Prasad Reddy

Eminent film maker Shyam Prasad Reddy is reputed for quality productions and films that have appealed to class and mass audience equally. He is well known for belting out several unusual films and is known for technical excellence.

• Malathi Rangarajan

20th year with The Hindu, where she works as a Senior Assistant Editor in the editorial department of the Friday Review section, Malathi is one of the most respected film journalist in Tamil. She has authored around 3500 articles, edited over 10,000 articles on a plethora of subjects and has interviewed eminent personalities in the field of entertainment in general and cinema in particular.

• Khushboo Sundar

She needs no introduction. Actress, television hostess and producer, Kushboo has acted in over 150 movies, opposite leading actors such as Kamal Hassan, Rajnikanth, Vishnuvardhan, Ravichandran, Mammootty, Mohanlal, Sathyaraj, and Prabhu.

• Poornima Bhagyaraj

Wife of Veteran actor-director K.Bhagyaraj, Poornima was a top heroine during 90’s. She is now an active member of many award juries and follows the industry closely.

• Bharathi Vishnuvardhan

A legendary South Indian actor, Bharathi has acted alongside some of the top actors in Kannada movies between 1960 and 1990; she was also seen in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam movies. She continues to appear in character roles in many of the South Indian language movies. She is best remembered for her role opposite Kannada matinee idol Dr Rajkumar in ‘Bangarada Manushya’, ‘Doorada Betta’, and several others. She was married to actor Vishnuvardhana, the romantic icon of Kannada movies. Bharathi has acted opposite top actors of South Indian cinema, including Sivaji Ganesan, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, M G Ramachandran and Gemini Ganesan. As a senior personality in the Kannada film fraternity, Bharathi is known for her philanthrophy and is striving hard for the Dr. Vishnuvardhana Memorial in Bangalore.

• T S Nagabharana

One of the most acclaimed directors in the history of Kannada films, Nagabharana’s movies have won international, national and state-level awards and received critical acclaim. His trend-setting movies include ‘Grahana’, ‘Aasphota’, ‘Banker Maargayya’, ‘Santha Shishunala Shareefa’, and ‘Bangarada Jinke’. He directed several blockbusters, such as, ‘Mysoora Mallige’, ‘Chinnari Muththa’, ‘Aakasmika’, ‘Nagamandala’, and ‘Janumada Jodi’. He is considered as a ‘complete film-maker’ and won national awards in various categories. Having directed more than 30 films in Kannada, Nagabharana, till recently was the chairperson of the Karnataka State Film Academy. He is also the founder of the theatre group ‘Benaka’.

• K Manju

One of the top producers of Kannada films, K Manju believes in experimenting with movies despite many risks. He has been in the Kannada film industry for the last two decades and produced films for all the leading actors. He is well-known for his association with Dr. Vishnuvardhana. The duo worked in several successful projects. He has several firsts to his credit – such as signing up the music maestro A R Rehman for his first Kannada project; bringing in Malayalam superstar Mammootty to Kannada films etc. He continues to remain as an active producer

• Lissy Priyadarshan

Lissy Priyadarshan popular South Indian film actress of 1980s was a leading heroine in Malayalam, who has acted in several Tamil and Telugu. She gave up acting after her marriage with famous film director Priyadarshan in 1990. She now resides in Chennai with her family. She has been in several award jury.

• Pratap Pothen

Popularly known by his first name Prathap, is an Indian actor, director, writer, producer who has acted in about 95 films. He has acted in Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu as well as Hindi films. His directional ventures were in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam.

• Siddique

He started his career as an assistant director to Fazil. Siddique later teamed up with Lal to create many blockbuster hits which were remade into all other languages. Siddique has made many blockbusters in comedy genre and the last one being Bodyguard which he directed in Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, all three versions receiving tremendous response at the box-office.