The South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) were held in Dubai on September 14, celebrating the achievements across the four major South Indian film industries: Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada. The awards honoured talents from the Telugu and Kannada industries on Saturday.
Nani received the Best Actor award for his role in Dasara (Telugu), while Rakshit Shetty took home the Best Actor trophy for his performance in Kannada cinema. In Telugu, Keerthy Suresh won Best Actress for Dasara and Mrunal Thakur, earning the Best Actress (Critics) award for Ni Nanna (Hi Nanna in Hindi). Additionally, actor-politician Dr. Shiva Rajkumar was recognised with the Excellence in Cinema award.
Telugu winners' list
Best Actor: Nani (Dasara)
Best Actress: Keerthy Suresh (Dasara)
Best Director: Srikanth Odela (Dasara)
Best Actor (Critics): Anand Deverakonda (Baby)
Best Actress (Critics): Mrunal Thakur (Hi Nanna)
Best Movie: Bhagwant Kesari
Best Actor in Supporting Role: Dixit Shetty (Dasara)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Baby Khiara Khan (Hi Nanna)
Best Debut Actor: Sangeet Shobhan (Mad)
Best Debut Actress: Vaishnavi Chaitanya (Baby)
Best Comedian: Vishnu (Mad)
Best Music Director: Abdul Wahab (Hi Nanna, Khushi)
Best Cinematography: Bhuvana Gowda (Salar)
Best Background Singer: Ram Miryala (Uru Palletooru-Balagam)
Best Debut Director: Souryuv (Hi Dad)
Best Debut Producer: Vaira Entertainments (Hi Dad)
Best Director (Critics): Sai Rajesh
Kannada winners list
Best Film: Kaatera
Best Actor: Rakshit Shetty
Best Actress: Chaithra Achar (Toby)
Best Director: Hemanth Rao (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello - Side A)
Best Debutant Director (Kannada): Nithin Krishnamurthy (Hostel Hudugaru Bekagiddare)
Best Actor (Critics): Dhananjaya (Gurudev Hoysala)
Best Actress (Critics): Rukmini Vasanth (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello - Side A)
Best Debutant Actress: Aradhanaa (Kaatera)
Best Actor in Negative Role: Ramesh Indira (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello - Side A)
Best Music Director: V Harikrishna (Kaatera)
Best Playback Singer (Female): Mangli (Kaatera)
Best Playback Singer (Male): Kapil Kapilan (Sapta Saagaradaache Ello - Side A)
Excellence in Cinema Award: Shiva Rajkumar
The winners for the Tamil and Malayalam film industries will be announced later today, September 15.