With the final nominees for the prestigious South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) being announced recently, there’s a lot of buzz and countdown has already started in tinsel town.
In Telugu Gabbar Singh, Thuppakki (Tamil), Addhuri (Kannda) and Spirit (Malayalam) are leading the nominations at SIIMA in most of the popular categories. The glitzy finale is slated to take place at UAE on September 12 and 13. Apparently, the nominations have been selected by an elite panel at SIIMA and the winners are chosen by an online voting system.
Gabbar Singh, directed by Harish Shankar and starring Pawan Kalyan and Shruti Hassan, is leading in Telugu language with 13 nominations including best actor and actress. Director Harish Shankar, while seeming very confident about the movie said, “Gabbar Singh is nominated in almost every popular category in SIIMA. We are hoping for a clean sweep.”
“It’s a real honour and it’s always been a special feeling for me. I m extremely happy for the entire team and cast of the film and very happy for the success and appreciation it continues to receive” said an excited Shruti Hassan who has been nominated for her role in this movie.

A.R. Murugdoss’s Thuppakki, starring Vijay and Kajal Agarwal, is leading with 10 nominations. On Thuppakki being nominated in 8 categories, actor Vijay says, “Thuppakki is a very special film for all of us who worked on it. It was one of the stylish, cleverly packaged films. All credits goes to the director and each and everyone who worked on it. I am glad that a commercial film is nominated in so many categories”. An elated Murugadoss opines, “I am happy and overwhelmed that Thuppakki has 8 nominations. I wish all the nominees the very best and am eager to know how many awards we win.”
Kajal, who has also been nominated as best actress for the movie said, “I’m very happy that my movie Thuppakki is nominated in so many leading categories in SIIMA and being nominated as best actress is very encouraging.”
Dhanush, who has been nominated in three categories for movie 3 (best singer, lyricist and actor) said, “It’s really an amazing feeling to be nominated for so many varied categories. Art has so many forms, I am glad I am able to do a little bit of 2 or 3 such forms. I feel blessed. Thanks to SIIMA and the jury.”
For the South Indian film industry it has been a benchmark year with movies like Eega, Gabbar Singh and Thuppakki not just making a mark nationally but also setting the cash registers ringing internationally. SIIMA will be utilising this opportunity to market and provide the South film industry a global platform.
Kannada movie Addhuri, which is a love story starring debutant Dhruv Sarja and Radhika Pandit, has been nominated in 9 categories. Actress Radhika Pandit, who’s also been nominated in ‘The Best Actress’ category, seemed very excited about the nomination and said, “I am extremely happy to have been nominated in the best actress category for Addhuri . We knew that this movie would be a hit, but never thought that it would reach this scale. SIIMA is a unique platform as it brings together the best of all 4 South film industries at an international destination.”
The Malayalam movie Spirit, which deals with the issue of alcoholism starring superstar Mohanlal, has got nominated in 9 categories. “I am very happy that Spirit, which conveys a social message on alcoholism, has been nominated in so many categories in SIIMA. The Kerala government has also given tax benefits for the movie. As an actor and producer of this movie I am very proud that I could extend a social message,” said Mohanlal.
The awards are being given away in 19 different categories in the four languages and will be attended by stalwarts from all the industries making the event a star-studded affair.