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Glitterati converge on Hyderabad for Filmfare Awards presentation
Savitha G.L
HYDERABAD:
In Hyderabad, there are no blues. Instead, there are plenty of colours, computers and of course, cinema. It is the city where geeks and glamour persons co-exist without really threatening the importance of each other.
It is most apt then that the 46th Filmfare Awards (South) on Saturday will have the CEO of Andhra Pradesh Inc, Mr Chandrababu Naidu, as its chief guest. He had agreed to be the chief guest during the first ever Filmfare Awards (South) function in Hyderabad in 1997 but could not make it due to personal reasons. The dynamic chief minister is all set to grace the occasion on Saturday
This year, the function is being held on a massive scale. While the 44th award function was organised in Ravindra Bharathi auditorium, this year’s venue is the Lalithkala Thoranam. This open air auditorium inside the state government- managed Public Gardens in the heart of Hyderabad, is gearing up for the colourful event which will be witnessed by more than 3,000 invitees.
The man who helped launch a thousand Telugu films, Ramoji Rao, will receive a special award for his contribution to the cinema industry while Allur Ramachandra Rao will get the Lifetime Achievement Award. The other winner in this category is Lakshmi, the talented actress who has played lead roles in all the four South Indian language films, apart from the Hindi film, Julie.
If Tollywood is celebrating its cinematic success, can Bollywood be kept away? Saturday will be the coming together of artistes from Mumbai and the South. The cultural events include tandav, a solo act by Vineet, dance numbers by Nagma, Kamaal Khan, Sonali Bendre, Suman Ranganathan - who’s just won accolades for her role in Rishi Kapoor’s Aa Ab Laut Chalen - and Sukhwinder of the Chaiya Chaiya fame. Will Sukhwinder be using the occasion to say thanks to his music director of Dil Se? A.R. Rehman will be receiving the Best Music Award for Jeans in the Tamil cinema category. V.J. Suchitra Pillai will be the hostess.
The who’s who of South Indian cinema are trickling in steadily, but a majority of them will land here on Saturday morning. Hyderabad has been experiencing soaring temperature levels. With the event attracting the glitz and glamour from across the country, the expectation is on the rise. But no one is going to complain about this heat and stardust.
Mumbai-based event managers — Fountain Head — is setting up the stage while Michael F and his team of 15 people from Bangalore are looking after the lighting and sound. The function is sponsored by Manikchand group.
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