Made for the small screen
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The awards function organised by Asianet brought together stars of the big and small screen.
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Shobana's dance was one of the highlights of the star-studded show.
THERE IS no denying it. People do enjoy seeing the stars of the big screen in flesh and blood. All age groups enjoy it and that is what attracts people to shows that highlight filmi masala. The Ujala Asianet Awards Night at K. K. Premachandran Stadium, Willingdon Island, Kochi, on Sunday last was no different. The congregation of National award winners was the icing on the cake - Sarada, Mammootty, Vikram, M.G. Sreekumar and Meera Jasmine, they were all there, at the same venue.
Packed to capacity, the crowd cheered the celebrities who kept trickling in even as the programmes went on. The entertainment was two-fold: one, what went on stage and the other, the details of celebrity-moods shown on the giant side screens, which were often preferred to what went on the stage.
Telecast purposes
Organisers conduct such shows purely for telecast purposes, as opposed to the earlier practice of putting up a show for an audience primarily and then showing extracts of it on the small screen. In the era of TV, the telecast for lakhs of people with sponsorships in tow, comes first and the few thousand-strong audience seated in front of the stage is `by-the-way,' merely props to enhance the mood of the artistes.
What one gets to see on the small screen, the edited and rearranged show, misses all the `livewire' action, thus the record crowd. For instance, the Oscar-inspired style of making an entrance from the back of the stage was tried with little success, for even the presenters, did not seem very comfortable with it. They kept looking for Sathyan Anthikad, among the audience even as he made his entry on the stage and stood beside them. Sujatha's melody was interrupted by a generator conking out, but after that she treated the audience to her award winning song from `Mampazhakaalam.'
The highlight of the five-hour show was without doubt, the innovative dance of Shobana and her troupe as also Balabhaskar's music ensemble. He serenaded the crowd with his violin. With Joboy on the drums, Prakash on the lead guitar, Josi on the bass guitar, Babu on the mridangam, Mahesh Mani on the tabla and Thankaraj on the keyboard, it was worth an encore.
Choreography
Shobana's choreography of the fusion piece, `Vatapi Ganapati... ' from the movie, `Morning Raga' stood out, as also the costumes. A 50-minute chenda melam, which opened the show, right on time, at 6 p.m., managed to keep the audience happy, while the VVIPs streamed in. The comedy show by a few TV regulars evoked little mirth, while Malavika and company's `item number' was an instant hit. Vineet and Rimi Tomy's super hit song `Karale... ' from `Udayananu Tharam,' turned out to be more popular than Rambha's dance. Jyotsna' song-and-dance number with Rajesh (Komalavalli... ) drew wolf whistles. Udit Narayan and Hema Sardesai added the fizz towards the latter half of the show.
The green laser works often played spoilsport, instead of enhancing the show. The awards given to those selected by an opinion poll did not interrupt the rhythm of the programme.
The presence of Jagathy, director Kamal, Innocent, Prithviraj, Sreekant, Padma Priya, Rosshan Andrrews, Blessy, composer M. Jayachandran, Girish Puthencherry, yesteryear stars like Asha Jayaram (`Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare') made it a star-studded affair that lasted till midnight.
Prema Manmadhan
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