MUMBAI: "Delhi gave me birth, Mumbai brought me up. This state and this city have made me what I am today," said superstar Shah Rukh Khan at Majha Sanman Puraskar, ABP Majha's pioneer initiative which celebrates the contributions of Maharashtrain's in different fields.

ABP CEO Ashok Venkatramani says, "We started this for recognising all the achievements that Maharashtrians have won, through excellence in their own fields and in the process have brought glory to the nation. It is a great motivator and it elevates people to greater heights that they deserve. We usually look at the last year or two and pick up stories of success and stories of excellence of Maharashtrians or people from the state of Maharashtra."

In its fourth year, the award function was indeed a memorable evening with union cabinet minister Sharad Pawar as the chief guest and Khan as the star attraction along with the ABP family. What more? The grand trophy is designed by eminent artist - Arzaan Khambatta who beautifully captures the dynamism, alertness, and effort of a Mahrashtrian to move ahead and benefit the society at large.

ABP Majha recognises the work of Vijaya Mehta in the field of art

Venkatramani informs,"This is a very well received award. It helps us to bond with our consumers and with our viewers. We are able to bring out unknown stories of excellence which is there all around the state, which otherwise does not get the focus and attention. By rewarding those achievers, we are rewarding not only from ourselves but on behalf of all our audiences."

ABP recognised and felicitated 11 living legends of Maharashtra, who have brought excellence in their chosen fields and have added to the pride of Maharashtra through their immense contribution.
ABP COO Avinash Pandey emphasises: "All the people that we awarded, you wouldn't find them getting awarded by all sections of the society. These individuals, at their individual level have done extra-ordinary service to the society. And we have recognised their contributions, irrespective of any commercial pressure. We don't give award to anybody who doesn't deserve it. And that's the strength of ABP unlike many other awards which are available in the market."

The awardees this year included various personalities from Maharashtra who contributed greatly to the society in fields like art, literature, music, sports, fashion, entertainment and business. The winners are - Sanjay Nahar in Rashtriya Ekta, Rahi Sarnobat in sports, Sneha Khanwalkar in culture, Shri Milind Kamble in Industrialist, Amrishbhai Patel & Suresh Khanapurakar in social service, Dr. Chetan Chitnis in research, Prabhakar Kolte in Art (painting), Shrimati Vijaya Mehta in Art, and Shrimati Kishori Amonkar in music.

Indeed, this is a wonderful brand property for the network considering that this gives it the opportunity to connect with the Marathi Manus sentiment of ABP Majha's viewer's base.

Delhi gave me birth, Mumbai brought me up. This state and this city have made me what I am today, says Shah Rukh Khan

Pandey talks about the importance of the awards from the business perspective. "This award function stands for three things. One, it generates extra-ordinary content for Television; Second, it helps as a party of the society as we are representatives of the society. It is our way of giving back to the society. This is our natural responsibility as a business. Third, it helps my advertisers to integrate well with the cause and the content and deliver a remarkable story to the viewers. This is why from year on year we make it better than what we did last year."

The evening kicked off with a fabulous performance by Sharbari Dance troop enthralling the audience with traditional Ganesh Vandana. Post this, ABP group chairman Aveek Sarkar shared his vision for ABP Majha and lauded the ceaseless commitment they put towards being a responsible and progressive News channel.

Majha Sanman Puraskar goes on to add a commendable CSR initiate for the ABP network. What does ABP stand for as a news channel in India? Pandey concludes in his response: "I have worked in news companies all my life. ABP is one such company that it does not do anything, unless it adds immense value to the viewer, advertiser or reader. If it is not valuable information, they will not go for it."