On May 3, the Jawarharlal Nehru stadium in Chennai witnessed the presentation of the second annual Vijay awards. The most popular persons of Tamil cinema gathered here amidst much glitz and glamour to participate in the event. The winners were selected by counting the votes that the Rasigan Express collected from the public while travelling through the state. So ultimately, the judges of the evening were the movie-loving public who voted for their favourite stars.
Rajinikanth won the award for the ‘Favourite Hero’ for Sivaji while the special award called ‘Entertainer of the Year’ went to Ilayathalapathy Vijay for Pokkiri and Azhagiya Tamizh Magan. A.R. Rahman bagged the ‘Best Music Director’ award for his peppy numbers in Sivaji. The prestigious ‘Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan' award for excellence in Tamil Cinema’ was presented to Mani Ratnam, the man who has taken Tamil cinema beyond the borders of Tamil Nadu and overseas. The Award for the ‘Favorite heroine’ was given to the ravishing Nayantara (Billa), the current heart-throb of Tamilnadu .The Best Actor (male) award was given to Sathyaraj for his excellent performance in Onbath Roobai Nottu; the best actress (female) award went to Priyamani for her memorable performance in Paruthi Veeran. Vetrimaran bagged the Best Director award for Polladhavan. ‘Icon of the Year’, decided by the media agencies and advertisers, was given to actor Suriya. Pokkiri was declared as ‘Favourite Film’ and ‘Favourite Director’ was given to Prabhu Deva for the same film.
‘Film News’ Anandan walked away with the award for the ‘Contribution to Tamil Cinema’. ‘Face of the year’ award went to Silambarasan. Paruthiveeran was adjudged the ‘Best Film’. Vadivelu bagged the award for the ‘Best Comedian’ for Marudamalai. Polladhavan took 3 more awards for Cinematography (Velraj) Stunt direction (Rambo Rajkumar) and the Best Villain (Kishore) categories. Best Playback Singer Male award was bagged by Krish for the song 'June Ponal' (Unnalae Unnalae) and the Best Playback Singer Female Award was won by the VIVA fame Neha Bhasin (Song: Pesugiren, Film: Satham Podathey). Venkat Prabhu of Chennai 600028 fame took home the award for 'best find of the year' and the team of the same film won the ‘Best Crew’. Sivaji bagged two more awards -- one for best lyricist (N. Muthukumar ) and the other for best Art Direction for Thota Tharani.
Best Supporting Actor went to Prakashraj (Mozhi) and to Sujatha for her commendable performance in Paruthi Veeran. ‘Best Dialogue Writer’ was given to Viji (Mozhi) and the award for ‘Best choreographer’ was won by Dinesh (Pokkiri - 'Vasantha Mullai'). The award for Best Actor Male in a debut performance was bagged by Karthi (Paruthi Veeran); the award for Best Actor Female in a debut performance was given to Anjali for Kattradhu Thamizh. The Best Editor award was won by Srikar Prasad (Kattradu Thamizh).
In addition to the presentation, the show glittered with sizzling performances by Sada, Ragasiya, Neha and Kamna. The popular rap artiste BLAZE joined in the celebrations with his many foot-tapping numbers.
Click here to view event pictures
