MUMBAI: Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Kiren Rijiju, Bollywood actors Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor were among youth icons presented with India TV Yuva Awards on Saturday night.
The awards were given away at a glittering event held at Taj Palace Hotel. Following the electric opening performance by Prince Dance troupe, Mr. Rajat Sharma, Chairman & Editor-in-chief, India TV, welcomed the Senior politicians, Bollywood, Television Sports Stars and captains of industry. During his address, he expressed his happiness over the magnanimous growth in the stature of India TV Yuva Awards. He also outlined that this initiative is solely targeted at inspiring the entire generation of future leaders by way of honoring the Achievers who still have a long way to go in their respective fields.
Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju were conferred the India TV Yuva awards for best young politician, female and male, respectively.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan presented the award to Smriti Irani, while Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat presented the award to Kiren Rijiju.
Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor as she won the Special Award presented to her by Shatrughan Sinha added a special mention of being really proud to be a happily married young woman & a young working woman while she thanked India TV & its Management for the recognition . Musicians Aman and Ayan Ali Khan were presented Special Award by singer Daler Mehndi.
Sonam Kapoor was presented the India TV Yuva award for best female actor by Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal. Arjun Kumar was given the award in best male actor category by Culture and Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma.
Cricketer Suresh Raina’s brother collected the Sports Icon Award from Minister of State for External Affairs Gen (Retd) V K Singh on his behalf as he is busy playing IPL. Shuttler P V Sindhu got the best female sportsperson award from Congress leader Salman Khurshid.
TV actor Mohit Raina of 'Devon Ke Dev, Mahadev' serial fame got the best TV male actor award from Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, while TV actor Digangana Suryavanshi of "Veer Ki Ardaas Veera" serial fame, got the best TV female actor award from Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
In the Music category, Palak Muchhal got the best female singer award from Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, while Javed Ali was presented the best male singer award by Minister of State in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh.
In the Business category, Neha Kirpal, director of India Art Fair, got the the India TV Yuva Award for best female businessperson from Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav, while Rahul Sharma, co-founder of Micromax was given the award for best male businessperson by senior Congress leader Janardan Dwivedi.
Manish Paul was at his witty best & proved that why he is rated amongst the best when it comes to hosting large format events. Artistes of Prince Dance Group presented electrifying performances. Famous Punjabi singer Jasbir Jassi belted out a number from his latest album, while award winner Palak Muchhal sang one of her superhit songs 'Chahoon Main Aana' from the film Aashiqui 2.
Actor Arjun Kapoor did the signature step from the popular song 'Tune Maari Entry' from the movie Gunday, even as a funny onstage-offstage act took place between Arjun, Kareena Kapoor and Manish Paul, soon after the special award was presented to Kareena.
India TV Yuva awards are given away every year to youth icons who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in their respective fields, that include politics, sports, music, films, television and business. The awards were instituted in 2013 to honour the most promising young faces of the nation.
The winners were selected by a jury led by Sarod maestro Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan, and included noted personalities like Prasoon Joshi, Vandana Luthra, Prof Pushpesh Pant and India TV Chairman & Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.
Speaking about the awards, Ritu Dhawan, Managing Director & CEO of India TV highlighted her faith in Gen Y, “It is these icons who most certainly are making our country proud now & will keep doing so in the future, while they take India to a new high in the times to come. It is indeed an honour for us to honour the spirit of excellence.”
The gala event was executed by Wizcraft International. Dainik Bhaskar, Pioneer Publicity corporation & C Voter were partners to the initiative which was sponsored by Vimal Pan Masala (Powered by) in association with Dr. Ortho & No Scars.
