Phoren angle brings awards

The appreciative audience sat through the programme which continued till nearly 1 a.m. though Kiran Kumar, who shared the best actor award for his role in Kadlani Jod, could not make it reportedly because of his mother8217;s ill health. He shared the award with Hitu Kanodia who was nominated for his role in Lakhtarni Ladi Ne Vilayatno Var.

Sudhachandran, who won the best actress award for the same film, was present for the function and was cleary overwhelmed by the response to her maiden Gujarati venture. Despite the language handicap, her role has won critical acclaim. She had insisted on her own voice instead of using a dubbing artiste. All it took the Tamil actress-who speaks fluent Hindi- is Gujarati dialogues written in Hindi script.

Kadlani Jod won as many as nine prizes including the Second Best film, best director Ashok Patel, best female playback singer Puja Kanodia, best music Ashok Patel, best script Ashok Patel and best dialogues Ashok Patel-he shared this award with Harin Thaker for Lakhtarni Ladi Ne Vilayatno Var.

The film, however, lost out to Lakhtarni Ladi Ne Vilayatno Var which won as many as 11 awards including consolation prize for best film, second best director Arun Bhatt, best male playback singer Karsan Sagathia, best story Arun Bhatt, best music director Mahesh-Naresh Kanodia, best art direction Chika Kharsani, best sound recordist Karansinh and best dance director Madhav Kishan and Pappu Khanna.

Desh Re Joya Dada Pardesh Joya< that hit film which single-handedly revived hopes in the Gujarati film industry by bringing audiences to the theatres in droves also won a couple of awards: Pinki Parikh for best supporting actress, and best story writer Govindbhai Patel.

Aapna Malakna Mayalu Manvi also won a couple of awards for best playback singer consolation Kishor Manraj and best sound recordist Vikas Kokre. The only other films to feature in the awards tally was Mahendi Rang Lagyo when Arvind Rathod won the award for Best supporting actor and Pratignya when Manin Trivedi won the prize for best child actor.

The function proved that the Kanodia family still holds sway over the Gujarati audience. The Mahesh-Naresh duo who have dominated the industry for decades have now been joined by Hitu, Puja and Suraj.

Mahesh-Naresh not only sang a few numbers but also danced before a demanding audience. They split the audience in two parts by drawing an imaginary line and started a Doha competition. They were able to work the audience up into a frenzy during the time they took the stage.

Sudhachandran was the other draw. While accepting the award she said she would continue to work in Gujarati films. The main prizes were announced at the fag end of the function jointly organised by Surat Municipal Corporation and State Information department.

The award ceremony was punctuated by comedy sequences and song and dance numbers.