I was recently invited to attend the 2022 South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) in Bangalore. Celebrating a decade of SIIMA, the 10th edition of the festival was held on 10 – 11 September, 2022. The ambiance remained electrifying throughout the two days as the biggest names in Indian showbiz made their presence felt at the awards. SIIMA was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appreciate film makers from across the South Indian film industries. Over the last decade or so, SIIMA has only gone from the position of strength to strength to become one of the most sought after awards events in India that holds such a special place in everyone’s hearts.
Oozing with cinephilia and glamour, the star-studded extravaganza has been curated by Brinda Prasad Adusumilli and Vishnu Induri, for a span of two days in Bengaluru. Earlier, Brinda Prasad Adusumilli, who is also the chairperson of SIIMA, had announced the nominations for the films and music released in the 4 South Indian Languages viz. Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil in 2021. Other than the regular awards, SIMMA also features some special honors for lifetime contributions and few special awards. Now, the first day of the two day event focused on Telugu and Kannada cinema and the second day of the awards function was dedicated to celebrating the best of Tamil and Malayalam cinema.
Adding to the glitter and glamour of the 10th edition of SIIMA, Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh marked his scintillating presence at the event alongside some of biggest names of Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam cinema including the likes of Allu Arjun, Yash, Vijay Deverakonda, Pooja Hegde, Darshan Thoogudeepa, Arvind Swamy, Silambarasan TR, and Kamal Haasan, Anees Bazmee, Vivek Agnihotri, Arvind Swamy, Hansika Motwani, Siva Karthikeyan, Silambarasan TR, Nidhhi Agerwal, and Tovino Thomas, among others.
The winners for Telugu and Kannada cinema were also announced on the first day of SIIMA. The Best Film (Telugu) went to ‘Pushpa: The Rise,’ and the Best Film (Kannada) went to ‘Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana.’ As far as the top acting honors are concerned, the winners announced on the first day included Punneth Rajkumar, who was awarded Best Actor (Kannada) posthumously for ‘Yuvarathnaa,’ Ashika Ranganath, who won the Best Actress (Kannada) for ‘Madhagaja,’ Pooja Hegde, who won the Best Actress award (Telugu) for ‘Most Eligible Bachelor,’ Allu Arjun, who won the Best Actor award (Telugu) for ‘Pushpa – The Rise,’ Pramod, who bagged the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Award (Kannada) for ‘Rathnan Prapancha,’ Aarohi Narayan, who won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Kannada) for ‘Drishya 2,’ Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari, who bagged the Best Actor in a Supporting Role Award (Telugu) for the film ‘Pushpa – The Rise,’ and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, who won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Award (Telugu) for the film ‘Krack.’
The winners for Malayalam and Tamil cinema were announced on the second day of the festival. While ‘Minnal Murali’ bagged the Best Film (Malayalam), ‘Sarpatta Parambarai’ won the Best Film (Tamil). The top acting honors went to Kangana Ranaut, who won Best Actress (Tamil) for ‘Thalaivii,’ Arvind Swamy, who won Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tamil) for ‘Thalaivii,’ Silambarasan TR, who won Best Actor (Tamil) for ‘Maanaadu,’ Tovino Thomas, who bagged Best Actor (Tamil) for ‘Minnal Murali’ and ‘Kala,’ and Unnimaya Prasad, who bagged Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Malayalam) for ‘Joji’. The winners were chosen by an online voting system.
The passion, zeal, and unconditional love that the fans of Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam cinema have is what makes these regional film industries tick. Often the stars are hailed as demigods. Attending the 10th edition of SIIMA in Bangalore has to be one of the top experiences for me—going to ground zero and attending a physical event happening in the real world after a long hiatus— since the pandemic hit us. Credit goes to Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli for their passion and commitment towards SIIMA and for extending their hospitality to all those attending the event.
As curtains have come down on the 10th edition of SIIMA, my eyes are already set on the next edition which promises to be even bigger and grander.