Stars, shenanigans and superstars: Siima 2016 was a smash hit

Glitz and glamour, pomp and show, grit and glory,

awards

and accolades ' Godrej Goldilocks

SIIMA

2016, in its fifth edition, had all the trappings of a perfect

South

Indian potboiler. If the red carpet shenanigans of reigning divas of tinseltown set the temperatures soaring, the high octane naach-gaana and drama on stage kept the entertainment quotient at an all-time high. And, of course, for all those who walked away with awards in hand, there was a happy ending too.
Held at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore, the two-day extravaganza that celebrates South Indian cinema and recognizes talent from the Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam film industries got off to a glitzy start on Day 1, with Rana Daggubati welcoming

Singapore

's South Indian diaspora in true filmi fashion, complete with a punch dialogue. Taking the baton from him were hosts for the evening, Lakshmi Manchu and Ali, who kept the audience in splits with their easy banter through the show. Sandalwood's Akul Balaji brought in a fresh dash of humour with his brilliant emceeing as well. The first evening, which awarded the best talent of Telugu and

Kannada

films of 2015, saw a stellar attendance from stars across the South, including matinee idols Chiranjeevi, Khushbu, Vikram, Suhasini, Rana, Allu Arjun, Puneeth Rajkumar, Nithya Menen, and more. Huma Qureshi's presence added some Bollywood glam to the do, while Kabir Bedi made an appearance to mark his foray into South cinema. The stalwarts cheered on as veteran playback singer S Janaki was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award.
Song and dance acts by Pragya Jaiswal, Pranitha Subhash and Rachita Ram added a filmi tadka to the show. The highlight was Sayeesha's tribute to the big four of Telugu cinema ' Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkatesh and Balakrishna. She shimmied to hit numbers of the stalwarts and pulled off Chiru's iconic 'veena step'. Devi Sri Prasad's high-energy gig had the whole crowd on its feet.
Day 2, which was dedicated to Tamil and Malayalam films, saw the auditorium packed to capacity. And keeping them entertained were a bunch of funny men and lovely women ' Shiva, Sateesh, Ranjini Haridas and Dhanya. Star power was stellar too ' with Vikram, Nivin Pauly, Prithviraj, Nayanthara, Radhika Apte and more making their presence felt. Veteran filmmaker Panchu Arunachalam was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award. Hansika, Amyra Dastur, Aishwarya Rajesh and Huma Qureshi put up some sexy performances. Mollywood's Neeraj Madhav performed and set some pretty high standards. The rockstar of the evening though was Anirudh. He made a smashing entry, complete with exotic dancers and dragons, and had the crowd on its feet for 10 whole minutes; that too at 2.30 in the morning. It was a fitting finale to the grand filmi weekend.