‘Big Salute to Women Entertainers', a one-of-its-kind award ceremony, organised by Big FM and Parle G, honoured women in cinema, dance, theatre, music, television , media and sports (about 20-odd awards were given under these categories). The voting was conducted by Big FM on air, via sms and online.
The show, a tribute to women power, was a celebration, with dance performances by Sandhya and Chandi Parera (choreographed by Gayatri Raghuram), M.S. Lavanya on the saxophone and a whistling performance by Sweta (the youngest whistler of the Indian Whistlers' Association).
Under Cinema, Sneha won the award for Best Actor, while the Lifetime Achievement award went to Sachu. Best Director award was bagged by Priya V, Upcoming Director award was given to Madhumitha while Rohini won the Best Dubbing Artiste.
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“This year, it is an award for upcoming director. I hope I win the Best Director next year as it is every woman's dream to not just win an award as a woman but to be pitted against men and emerge a winner,” said Madhumitha.
Vinisha K took home the Best Dancer award, while Best Choreography went to Girija Raghuram. The Lifetime Achievement award in the dance category went to Bharatanatyam artiste Chitra Visveswaran.
“There are so many types of dances . One lifetime isn't enough to learn them all. You are always a student of your art,” said Chitra. “I don't perform much now but I showcase my art through my students. It's an amazing feeling. An award for dance is rare and it is an honour to receive this,” she added.
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Under the Media category, the Lifetime Achievement award in Journalism was given to Malathi Rangarajan of The Hindu for her work as a movie critic.
Among the winners in Television were Suhasini Mani Ratnam (Lifetime Achievement in non-fiction category), Khushboo Sundar for Best Game Show Host, Ramya Krishnan for Best Actor and Radhika Sarath Kumar got the Lifetime Achievement award in fiction category.
Bombay Gnanam and KS Chitra were given the Lifetime Achievement awards for Theatre and Music while Thamarai was given the Best Lyricist award and Ranina Reddy got the Best Singer award.
Deepika Pallikal was pronounced the Best Sportswoman and Shiny Wilson got the Lifetime Achievement award under the Sports category. And finally under the debutant category, Thanjai Selvi (Sports) and Shruthi Hassan (Cinema) were honoured.