All roads are likely to lead to Sharjah on November 24 as stars of the Bollywood epic Padmavati — Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor — and director Sanjay Leela Bhansali are slated to attend the annual Asiavision Movie Awards 2017 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Padukone will be honoured with the global icon of the year award, while the acclaimed director Bhansali — who has led sweeping visual extravaganzas such as Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Devdas — will be honoured for his contributions to Indian cinema at the 12th edition of Asiavision Movie Awards.
The AMAs are held every year in the UAE to honour top talents from South India, but also invite huge Bollywood stars every year. In the past, celebrities such as Aishwarya Rai Bachchan have been honoured.
According to Nissar Syed, the managing director of Asiavision, the Padmavati stars will unveil a teaser to their new song during the awards presentation ceremony, which is expected to attract at least 40,000 guests.
“It’s our absolute honour to have Padmavati talents attend the Asiavision Movie Awards because these stars have pan-Indian appeal. Their popularity transcends languages and geography. Apart from attending awards, they will also meet the local press the day before in Dubai. So it’s a double delight with the movie promotions and the awards night. Dancer Asha Sharath will also put together a dance performance weaving in Padmavati elements on stage,” Syed told Gulf News tabloid!.
Padmavati, the period drama featuring Padukone as a queen and Singh as the ruler Alauddin Khilji, has been garnering massive attention in India since its trailer launch.
Apart from the anticipation from movie-mad Indians, there’s a call for a ban in India with fringe right-wing groups protesting against an alleged “romantic sequence between Padmavati and Khilji” and so-called historical inaccuracies. Both Bhansali and the film’s team have dismissed these rumours.
Meanwhile, it’s going to be a big night for Malayalam actors Dulquer Salmaan and Manju Warrier, who will go home with the best actor trophies.
Salmaan has won the honour for his top act in series of films including Jomonte Visheshangal, Solo, CIA and Parava, while Warrier impressed in the social satire Udhaharanam Sujatha.
South Indian actors including Prakash Raj, Aditi Rao Hydari, Rana Dagubatti, Vijay Sethupathi are also confirmed to attend the star-studded night.
The gates to the awards night open at 3pm and the awards show is expected to begin at 5.45pm. Tickets, ranging from Dh30 to Dh2,000, will be go on sale soon.
