Asiavision Movie Awards brings stars to Sharjah

It’s not just about winning trophies for Indian actress Tamannaah, who scooped the Best Actress award for her hit Tamil film Dharmadurai at the Asiavision Movie Awards on Friday at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

“We come together as one during such events. We may work in different language films, but we represent Indian films on a global stage and it’s always a healthy sign when actors from South India and Hindi cinema converge,” said Tamannaah in an interview with Gulf News tabloid! before walking the red carpet.

The Bahubali actress won the Best Actress honour for her role as a resilient doctor in the romantic drama Dharmadurai who walks out of a bad marriage and finds love in her college mate.

“It’s is a very special film because it got critical acclaim and the box office numbers and that’s a rare combination. There was a soul to this film and it’s such a beautiful slice-of-life drama. It was progressive and I loved the way the rural India was shown in this film,” said Tamannaah.

While the award would make her happy, she was thrilled to rub shoulders with actresses such as Sonam Kapoor, Malayalam idols Manju Warrier and Nivine Pauly.

Kapoor, who won the Best Actress for her role in Neerja, dedicated her award to the brave air hostess who sacrificed her life during the 1986 hijack, and to the late Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna. The hit film began with a dialogue borrowed from Khanna’s hit film with her character declaring that your life should be big, not long.

Manju Warrier, who won the Best Actress for her role as a volleyball coach to prisoners in the underdog drama Karinkunnam 6’s, expressed her happiness at winning the award through public voting.

The Malayalam actress, who made her comeback in How Old Are You? in 2014, believes that such awards underline the love that her fans place for her in their hearts and validated her belief that her legion of fans are her greatest strength.

More than 50 actors from the South Indian film industry and Hindi cinema were honoured at a ceremony that went past midnight.