Amitabh Bachchan, Aroon Purie and Subroto Roy win awards

Mumbai, Nov 25: Legendary actor of the Indian Cinema Amitabh Bachchan, Padmabhushan awardee Aroon Purie of ' Aaj Tak' and the head honcho of Sahara Group Subroto Roy were conferred awards by the Indian Television Academy, which hosted the BIG-ITA Night of Honours at the Bhavans Ground in Mumbai. Amitabh Bachchan was conferred with the award for having achieved 'Ultimate Eminence' in the world of entertainment encompassing cinema, TV and media. The award was presented to him last night by Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath, who was the chief guest of the occasion.

Accepting the award, Big B said, ''I am embarrassed about the title and I feel there is still a long journey ahead and this country has a glorious future. I believe that the TV industry provides the right platform as many greats are present here. I accept the award with humility''.

Speaking on the occasion Kamal Nath said, ''I am overwhelmed with the glamour talent. This is the seventh year of the award. In 1992 there were five channels and today in seven years how much has changed globally and in our country. Not only the world's perception about us, but our own perception about ourselves has changed. We have a very bright future where India's place is going to be like never before. I don't see TV or movies, but here is an industry which represents youth creativity fusion of art, culture and craft. That is what the world looks for India. Thank you for inviting me here.'' While accepting the award, veteran journalist Aroon Purie said, ''I have spent 34 years in the media and I hope to continue in the next many years. I have never believed that a person is more important than news. For me news is the star''.

While South filmstar Khushboo was conferred with a Special Laurel for achieving iconic status in Southern TV after having carved a niche for herself in cinema.

Speaking on the occasion she said, ''I had left Mumbai 20 years ago and I am back after 20 years. I am touched that even today people think of me as baby Khushboo. I thank Sunil Dutt for giving me that role. I acknowledge my husband and my daughters for my success.''

The other luminaries, who were presented with the scroll of honour were Ronnie Screwala of UTV who was conferred with the ''The ITA Achiever Laurel 2007 award.'' Speaking on the occasion he said, ''It has been a remarkable decade and a half given the way we have grown. TV is revered in our country. This is a great tribute. I thank ITA for this.'' Film star turned TV producer Sanjay Khan, TV producer Dheeraj Kumar and Prem Sagar were the other recipients of the scroll of honour.

The other celebrities present on the occasion were Madhur Bhandarkar, Akbar Khan, David Dhawan, Yukta Mukhey, Gulshan Grover, Jackie Shroff, Amrita Rao, Mumtaz, Moushmi Chatterjee, Ramesh Sippy with wife Kiran Juneja, Ashok Pandit, lyricist Sameer, ghazal singer Pankaj Udhas and TV stars like Kamya Punjabi, Jaya Bhattacharya, among others. The evening was hosted by Mandira Bedi, Sharad Kelkar and Smriti Z Irani.

Some of the other technical award winners in different categories were 'Best TV award event' presented to Wiz craft for the IIFA awards which was collected by brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, Best Hindi movie channel was Zee Cinema, Best music channel was MTV, Best Children's channel was Disney Channel. Best TV documentary was ZEE News Ltd, Best travel based show was CNN-IBN 'what's cool on holidays', Best Lifestyle show was CNN-IBN ' Team Living it up'.

Best fillers were Walt Disney Indian for 'Bhoot Diwali', Best Telefilm award was to ZEE Cinema 'Pyar ki Shuruwaat' Best mini series was to NDTV Independence day, Best lyricist for the serial 'Maika', Best art director was Nitin Desai for 'Big Boss', Best dialogues to Kamlesh Pandey for the serial 'Viruddh', Best teleplay to 'Baa Bahu aur Baby', Best Editing to NDTV show 'Train to Tibet', Best title music was to serial 'Maika', Best singer award was given to Sonu Nigam for 'Dil Mil Gaye'. Best audiography to 'Ssh Phir Koi Hai' and 'Ghungroo' Best visual effects was to 'Antariksh' and best costume award was presented to Prithviraj Chauhan.

Speaking on the occasion Anu Ranjan said,'' This year besides the regular awards special honors were conferred on those who have changed the face of Indian TV. This is the first such occasion where big wigs across channels and organizations representing the entire TV industry were present on one stage. We have TV sets in 70 million homes and there are thousands of people who are employed. Today television is a power to reckon with because of their foresight.'' There was a special tribute to Amitabh Bachchan by child stars like Swini Khara from Cheeni Kum and Raj Pandit. The kids performed to such classic numbers from films like 'Don', 'Hum', 'Yaarana' and 'Amar Akbar Anthony'.

The highlight of the evening was the 'Baa and Bahu act having performances by grand old ladies of Indian TV of Shubha Khote, Savita Prabhune and Shama Deshpande. The young brigade of Amrapali, Jasweer Kaur and Karishma Tanna performed to the remixed versions of the same songs.

UNI