"I am glad to be part of an award function sans the dance rigmarole and focuses only on honoring the celebrity, - Kamal Haasan

Recognition is something every human being expects and craves for. For film fraternity, when appreciation and acceptance come in the form of awards, the joy knows no bounds. This is the major impetus for creative minds to scale greater heights.

Behindwoods hosted our second Behindwoods Gold Medals award ceremony on the 19th of July at Hotel ITC Grand Chola in Chennai that turned out to be grander than the premises where it was held.

The evening was a star studded affair that witnessed the celebrities walking the Behindwoods Wall of Fame and the ramp in style.

Respect to MS Viswanathan
The evening commenced with observing one minute silence to pay respects to music director M S Viswanathan who left for his heavenly abode recently.

The Guests of Honor
The spectacular show was attended by Kamal Haasan, A C Thirulogachander, Film News Anandan, S P Muthuraman, Pushpa Kandasamy, S A Chandrasekar; directors K Bhagyaraj, Suresh Krissna, KS Ravikumar, Kasthuri Raja, AR Murugadoss, Vasanth, Parthiban, Lingusamy, Vetri Maaran, Samuthirakani, M Rajesh, Pa.Ranjith, Karthik Subbaraj, RS Prasanna, Vijay Milton, Balaji Mohan, Mundasupatti Ram, Rakshith Shetty, Atlee; Actors Radha Ravi, Siddharth, Prithviraj, Bobby Simha, Karunakaran, Ramesh Thilak, Nagendra Prasad; music directors Shankar Ganesh, Santhosh Narayanan, Nivas Prasanna; Singers Unnikrishnan, Vaikom Vijayalakshmi, Uthara Unnikrishnan, Abhay Jodhpurkar and Sathyaprakash, Actresses Samantha, Hansika, Poornima Bhagyaraj, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan, Mia George, Sshivada Nair, Uma Riaz Khan and others. The technician's list includes PC Sreeram, Randy Rathnavelu, Priyan, G Murali, Manoj Paramahamsa; Editors Sreekar Prasad, Praveen KL, Anthony, Kola Bhaskar, Vivek Harshan; Art Director Vijaimurugan, Gopi Anand and many more. Lyricists Vairamuthu and Kabilan caught the audience's attention with their choicest words. Dhananjayan who won the National Award for Best Book on Tamil Cinema was also aptly honored at the function.

Innovative Awards -Technical
Generally awards are being conferred to categories like Best Actor/Best Actress and the likes. What made the Behindwoods Gold event stand out from the crop is our awards for categories that have not been normally bestowed upon. They are the ones for best dubbing artists, Best Makeup Artist, Best Audio Label, Best DI, Best Digital Screening, Best Theatre, Best Marketing to name a few.

Innovative Awards -Media
To award a fellow media house is something extraordinary and special. Behindwoods stood tall when it chose to honor The Hindu for Best English Print for Films Promotion, Dina Thanthi for Best Tamil Print for Films Promotion, Ananda Vikadan for Best Print Magazine for Films Promotion, Dhananjayan for Best Book on Tamil Cinema,Sun Music for Best Music Channel for Films Promotion, Suryan FM for Best Radio for Films Promotions and Vijay TV for Best Entertainment Channel for Film's Promotion.

Kamal Haasan
The event's highlight was Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan being honored with K Balachander Gold Medal for excellence in Indian Cinema. This was conferred on the legend by veteran director A C Thirulogachander. The segment rendered many eyes moist and the late director was recalled with fond nostalgia by everyone. Behindwoods in association with Realworks studio had created a 3D model of K Balachander wishing Kamal Haasan all success and glory in the future. Kamal said, ԉ am first happy to be a part of an award function sans dance rigmarole that has become integral to such functions. And to get an award in the name of my Gurunathar is something that I would always cherishԮ He also added, ԁrtists are bound to be proud people. I do feel that when I look at others who have not been trained under KB sirԍ

AR Rahman
The Behindwoods Gold Award for Music Excellence 2014 went to Oscar Winner A R Rahman. Ԕhis award is given to me for Kochadaiiyaan and Kaaviya Thalaivan and thanks very much for that. I am thankful to the team, director, cast and producer of these two films. I enjoyed working in both the films. Thank you allԬ concluded the legendary musician.

Karthi
Karthi who won the BW Gold for Best Actor in a lead role -Male for Madras said, ԅver since my return from US, I have been observing the growth of Behindwoods, a website that follows films in a dedicated manner. It has become a big forum and community now. Congratulations! And thanks! I am happy to get an award for Madras, a film that had started in an experimental manner. I would like to thank the audience for appreciating Madras. I am also thankful to Ranjith, Santhosh, the entire crew of Madras and the people of North Madrasԍ

Samantha
The event had its glamour and glitz when Samantha who won the BW Gold Peopleӳ Choice-Female, walked the ramp in her chic LBD that had the crowd going in raptures. She was much excited that the year 2014 turned out best for her. The hot hunk Prithviraj gave away the BW Gold Medal for Samantha.

Hansika
Hansika who bedazzled in a ravishing red Mayyur Girotra creation perfectly complemented her sartorial elegance with curio cottage accessories. She took the BW Gold award for Best Entertainer Female from Poornima Bhagyaraj. The gorgeous lady brought the audience to their feet when she did an impromptu jig of Darling Dambakku on the ramp and captured their hearts.

Vairamuthu, the Golden lyricist
Kavi Perarasu Vairamuthu was honored with BW Golden Lyricist Award by K Bhagyaraj. Accepting the award, the six time National Award winner said, ԁwards make one feel more and more responsible. I not only consider this as a recognition to my past work but would review it as a ticket to aspire for greater echelonsԮ

AR Murugadoss
Director A R Murugadoss bagged his award for Creator of the Best Film on Social Issues for Kaththi. He was reflective of the current situation in the industry when makers are constantly threatened on non-existent, creativity-jabbing issues. He very jocularly said, Ԕhese days it is even difficult to make a story on Ramayana because there would be somebody to come up with some kind of roadblocks even for that. I cannot keep fire in Hanumarӳ tail because Animal Welfare Board will not approve of that. During the time of Kaththi, I even regretted why I came to this industry but I am ever thankful to Behindwoods who were very supportive to me during my troubled timesԮ

Pa.Ranjith
Director Pa.Ranjith is easily the toast of the town now after having bagged the prestigious offer of directing superstar Rajinikanth for his 3rd film. The soft spoken director took the centre stage for receiving the award for Best Story for his film Madras. On Rajiniӳ film, Ranjith says, ԉ am a fan of director Mahendran and his films. His Kaali of Mullum Malarum made a deep impact in me and I am trying to showcase that kind of character in my upcoming film with Rajini sirԮ

Siddharth
The ever exuberant Siddharth when called upon to receive his award for Best Actor Criticӳ Choice-Male, he stated that he would like to share it with Attakathi Dinesh for his performance in Cuckoo. It was heartening to witness artists openly admitting their appreciation for their contemporaries.

Samuthirakani & Gee Gee for Dubbing
The event was interesting to Samuthirakani as he received the award for Best Dubbing Artist Male for Golisoda. He received the award from Parthiban. The director/actor revealed that this is the first time he is receiving an award in this category. Gee Gee was awarded the Best Dubbing Artist-Female for Madras which was given to her by Uma Riaz Khan.

Short Film
As an initiative to encourage and support short film makers, Behindwoods had a contest for short films and two short film makers were chosen and awarded the Gold Medals. Two others were given a special mention awards. The winners were Desingh Periasamy for 99 and Vikarnan Ashok for Dharumi. Special mention awardees were Vikie for Chilra Illa Paa and Kannan RK for Muse. The winners would be helped to narrate their story to a leading producer.

Parents for Sons
The event stood out for some parental sentiment too. Incidentally there were quite a few celebrity parents who took home the awards for their children as they were not able to make it to the event due to prior commitments. S A Chandrasekar for his son Ilayathalapathy Vijay who won the Best Actor Male and Peopleӳ Choice Male gold medals, Kasthuri Raja for his son Dhanush who was the winner of BW Best Entertainer Male, Lakshmi Ravichander for her son Anirudh who won the BW Best Music Director and Seshadhri for his singer son Haricharan for BW Best Singer Male.

Musical note- Vaikom Vijayalakshmi and Uthara Unnikrishnan
On a similar note, singer Unnikrishnan was touched when he had to present the BW Best Singer Award-Female to his daughter Uthara. The talented musician said, Ԕhis moment is extra special to me, to give an award to my own daughter. This sure would be an unforgettable moment in our lifeԮ The audience had their ҧoosbumpsҠmoment when Vaikom Vijayalakshmi in her characteristic voice sang ԋodaiyila Mazha PolaҠfrom Cuckoo. Her rendition without any instruments was totally top notch. And the young Uthara gave an encore of that musical experience when she sang Ҏadhi Pogum KoozhangalҠfrom Pisaasu and ҁzahgaeҠfrom Saivam.

Karan
The word ҩnclusiveҠgot its true meaning when Karan was awarded with the BW Best Actor in a Supporting Role Male for his film Inam. The special youngster was exuberant in his speech and was keen to dance his favorite star Vijayӳ Selfie Pulla. Voila! Karan had all his moves perfect, dancing with consummate ease and perfection that brought the audience also up on their feet. All good things come to an end and the event got its musical signing off with Nivas K Prasannaӳ band who churned out lovely melodies from the evergreen old to brand new-gen films. This was the perfect finale to the evening that had many happy, nostalgic, fulfilling moments for the participants and the organizers.