The prestigious South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) is currently underway in Dubai. The two-day event honours the best of cinema in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. On Saturday, the talents from Telugu and Kannada cinema were honoured. Some of the biggest winners of the day, include Dasara and Hi Nanna in Telugu, and Kaatera and Sapta Sagaradaache Ello – Side A in Kannada. The event was hosted by Sudigali Sudeer-Simran Chaudhary for the Telugu set of awards, and Rishi-Shubra Aiyappa for the Kannada categories. This is the second straight time that the star-studded event is happening at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
After four nominations, Nani finally won the coveted Best Actor award for his role in Dasara, which also won Srikanth Odela the Best Director nod. While Nani’s Dasara co-star Keerthy Suresh won the Best Actress award, his Hi Nanna co-star Mrunal Thakur took home the Best Actress (Critics) trophy. While Balayya’s Bhagwant Kesari won the Best Film award , the other awards in the acting categories (supporting actor) went to Dheekshith Shetty for Dasara, Kiara Khanna for Hi Nanna. Baby was the other big winner as Anand Devarakonda took home the Best Actor (Critics) award, Vaishnavi Chaitanya won the Best Debutant Actress, and Sai Rajesh bagged the Best Director (Critics) for Baby.
ALSO READ: Hi Nanna movie review: Nani, Mrunal Thakur impress in a poignant tale of love and bonding
Dasara and Hi Nanna win big at SIIMA 2024.
SIIMA 2024 Winners (Telugu):
Best Actor: Nani (Dasara)
Best Actress: Keerthy Suresh (Dasara)
Best Director: Srikanth Odela (Dasara)
Best Actor (Critics): Anand Deverakonda (Baby)
Best Actress (Critics): Mrunal Thakur (Hi Nanna)
Best Movie: Bhagawant Kesari
Best Actor in Supporting Role: Dheekshith Shetty (Dasara)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Kiara Khanna (Hi Nanna)
Best Debut Actor: Sangeet Shobhan (Mad)
Best Debut Actress: Vaishnavi Chaitanya (Baby)
Most Promising Actor: Sumanth Prabhas (Mem famous)
Best Comedian: Vishnu (Mad)
Best Music Director: Hesham Abdul Wahab (Hi Nanna, Khushi)
Best Cinematography: Bhuvan Gowda (Salaar)
Best Singer: Ram Miryala (Uru Palletooru-Balagam)
Best Debut Director: Shouryuv (Hi Nanna)
Best Debut Producer: Vaira Entertainments (Hi Nanna)
Best Director (Critics): Sai Rajesh
Entertainer of the Year: Shruti Haasan
SIIMA 2024 Winners (Kannada):
In Kannada, the Best Actor award went to Rakshit Shetty for his performance in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello – Side A, and the Best Actress award was won by his Sapta Sagaradaache Ello-Side B co-star Chaitra Achar for her terrific performance in Toby. The Best Actress (Critics) nod went to Rukmini Vasanth for her seminal role in Sapta Sagaradaache Ello-Side A, which won Hemanth M Rao the prize for Best Director. The other big winner in Kannada was the Darshan-starrer Kaatera, which took home the big prize of Best Film, and won Aradhanaa the Best Debutant Actress award. Kaatera also swooped up the awards for Best Music (V Harikrishna) and Best Female Singer (Mangli), while SSE took home the Best Male Singer award for Kapil Kapilan.
Rukmini, Rakshit and Chaitra Achar win at SIIMA 2024.
The legendary actor Shivarajkumar was presented with the Excellence in Cinema award.
Best Film: Kaatera
Best Actor: Rakshit Shetty
Best Actress: Chaithra Achar (Toby)
Best Director: Hemanth Rao (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A)
Best Debutant Director (Kannada): Nithin Krishnamurthy (Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare)
Best Actor (Critics): Dhananjaya (Gurudev Hoysala)
Best Actress (Critics): Rukmini Vasanth (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A)
Best Debutant Actress: Aradhanaa (Kaatera)
Best Actor in Negative Role: Ramesh Indira (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A)
Best Music Director: V Harikrishna (Kaatera)
Best Playback Singer (Female): Mangli (Kaatera)
Best Playback Singer (Male): Kapil Kapilan (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello – Side A)
Excellence in Cinema Award: Shivarajkumar
The award ceremony for the Tamil and Malayalam cinema will be held on Sunday, and celebrities have started assembling at Dubai to be part of the prestigious award show.
