MUMBAI: It was a night of music, colour, fun and recognition of behind the scenes talent in the Indian television industry. The 2004 edition of the Indian Telly Awards (Trade, Technical and Programming) was held last night.
Amidst a strong turn out of television people, a total of 62 awards were handed out in various categories ranging from music to scriptwriting and costume design.
The biggest winner was Star with 14 awards, followed by Sony and Max who took home nine awards. NDTV won six awards.
Star India VP content and communications Deepak Segal was adjudged the channel head of the year. The ad sales award went to Star India executive VP ad sales Kevin Vaz. Star India executive VP distribution Tony D'Silva won for distribution head of the year. Star Plus' Shararat won for the best kids programme. Star Plus' Khichdi beat Sabe TV's Office Office, to win in the best sitcom category.
NDTV India was adjudged the best news channel of the year, defeating Aaj Tak. A spokesperson for the channel attributed the success to quality as well as an experienced team. "We also always put the truth first. It is a privilege to work with a team that is so dedicated to their work."
NDTV's The Big Fight, hosted by Rajdeep Sardesai, won in the best talk show category.
Sony's CID was adjudged the thriller programme of the year. B.P. Singh was recognised for his direction of the show. The marketing head of the year was Sony's Albert Almeida while the communications and PR head of the year was Max's Pawan Chawla. "These are prestigious awards that recognise the best technical talent in Indian television. A large part of this award has to do with the fact that I work in such a great organisation" Chawla said.
HBO beat out strong competition from Star Movies to take home the award for Best English Movie Channel.
Sumangali Cable Vision (SCV) was adjudged the best MSO of the year.
The award for best Hindi movie channel went to Zee Cinema. DD's Mumbai Kendra was adjudged the best DD Kendra.
For the third year in a row, MTV was adjudged the music channel of the year. MTV CEO Alex Kuruvilla said, "It is all due to our creativity. We also keep innovating through initiatives like MTV Roadies. We are also the first music channel to introduce a soap opera. All this keeps the competition guessing as to how we will further expand the music genre."
MTV also won an award for the packaging of the show Graveyard Shift. MTV's arch rival Channel (V) did well in the promo category, winning awards for its shows Santa Banta Christmas and Popstars II . It also won for channel packaging and for the promo head Shetal Sudhir.
It was not an entirely serious affair however. Comedian Jimmy Moses had the audience in splits with a stand up routine. He lampooned a lot of things from Star's game show Kamzor Kadii Kaun (KKK) to remix videos and the innumerable sari ads.
A stand out was his impersonation of KKK host Neena Gupta. "Bees rupiya ek sabzee ke liye mehenga hai. Aap bahar jaa sakte Hai. Namasthe." (20 rupees for a vegetable is too expensive. You can leave now. Goodbye)
Indiantelevision.com CEO Anil Wanvari pointed out that the event was aimed at rewarding the unsung heroes - those who work behind the scenes to make the television stars and shows look as good as they do. He expressed confidence that with the Indian television industry growing the way it is, the trade, technical and programming Awards would be able to cross a 100 categories within the next few years.
He urged channels and production houses to send in their best possible entries and not to settle for anything less. "Our jury makes their decisions based on these entries. Also for those who did not win and felt that they deserved to, I would like them to keep this feeling with them as they are all winners tonight. You create programmes that make the viewers laugh, cry.."
CNBC picked up three awards. Its show Indian Business Hour received a special commendation. Trial by Fire meanwhile was adjudged the best game show.
UTV's show Back To The Floor for BBC World won the award for best business programme of the year. ESPN Star Sports' Harsha Unplugged was adjudged the best sports programme of the year. Miditech's Operation Hot Pursuit for National Geographic won in the non fiction programme category.
The Indian Telly Popular Gala Awards will be handed out in another ceremony on 19 November at The Chitrakut Ground in Andheri.
For details about the Indian Telly Awards, visit http://www.indiantellyawards.com/
