<> | | < =submit_btn_xx_small =".location.replace('/s/1748/0/Women-Achiever-s-Awards.');" = value=previous name=submit_btn> | Picture 1 of 149 | < =submit_btn_xx_small =".location.replace('/s/1748/2/Women-Achiever-s-Awards.');" = value=next name=submit_btn> | < =submit_btn_xx_small title="Next Page" =".location.replace('/s/1748/7/Women-Achiever-s-Awards.');" = value=">>" name=submit_btn> | | | | | </> | | | | Women Achiever's Awards
By Kkomal Seth & Gautam Seth
Celebrating Womanhood. On 27th February, '07, the lawns of the ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton were witness to a momentous occasion. The Kelvinator GR8! Women Awards, 2007 was held there in the presence of illustrious glitterati. The Awards are an endeavour of the GR8! TV Magazine, which is an initiative of the Indian Television Academy. In this, Women Achievers across various disciplines are accorded honour and recognition, each year. Over the last four years, the awardees have been such distinguished personages as Smt. Vasundhararaje Sindhia, Chief Minister, Rajasthan, Smt. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi, and a host of illustrious artistes and writers etc. like Mahashweta Devi, Amrita Pritam, Asha Bhonsle, Shabana Azmi, Maneka Gandhi, Sonal Mansingh, leelani Bano, Sitara Devi, Asnoushka Shankar, Medha Patkar, to name a few. This year, the Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred on Saira Banu for the unmatched sparkle she has lent to Hindi cinema as an artiste. The GR8! Scroll of Honour was bestowed upon the renowned classical dancer, Yamini Krishnamurthy. The evening had a historic moment of its own when The GR8! Laurel, 2007 was conferred on Ms. Neelofar Bakhtiar, the famed Social-activist and presently, the Minister for Tourism in Pakistan. Ms. Bakhtiar is a potent voice for Women-related issues in the subcontinent. The missionary zeal with which she has pursued Woman-Empowerment is well and truly exemplary. This was also a step towards the bonding of the two Nations at people's level. Besides, the others who entered the GR8! Hall of Fame were, among others - Priyanka Chopra (Cinema), Anu Aga (Business), Shovana Narayan (Dance), Shobha De (Writing), Amruta Patki (Beauti), Anita Pratap (Journalism)... and so on. The evening was also marked by some dazzling performances. The piece-de-resistance was the Act by Gulshan Grover, which depicted how the unconquerable Evil was conquered by the Stree (played by Payal Rohtagi), when all others failed. It had its Operatic moments, interspersed by some peppy numbers. Then, there was a medley performed by Rajshree Thakur, Roopa Ganguly, Barkha Bisht and Surveen Chawala of Kajjal (Sony) fame. Roop Kumar Rathod took the evening to a sublime plane by his, 'Maula Maula', 'Dil ko tumse' etc. Playing perfect counter to it was Rakhee Sawant, who sizzled with her Lavni Act. Then, Tarana from Zoom and lasweer Kaur from Zee's Betiyaan performed in tandem some of the most memorable duo-numbers of our films like, 'Kajara mohabbat wala', 'Aplam Chaplam', 'Hansta hua noorani chehra' etc. And to cap it all, there was this musical tribute to Saira Banu, wherein her ail-time hits like 'Dil-vil payar-vyar', 'Ud ke pawan ke sang chalungi', 'Main chali main chai' were performed by Gauri Nijudkar (Paraya Dhan), Parakh Madan (Saathi Re and Aanchal Dwivedhi (Saat Phere). All these Acts sent the audience into raptures and when the living legend Dilip Kumar came up to present trophies to Ms. Renuka Chowdhury and Ms. Neelofar Bakhtiar, an ecstatic thrill was cast over the evening. The platform of this Award-Ceremony was also used to raise a voice for 'beti', a movement to spread awareness against the cursed mindset of Female Feticide, rampant all across the country, today. Said Anu Ranjan, Editor, GR8! 'The movement, 'beti' is closest to our hearts and today, all of these distinguished personalities have also voiced their support to us. We are determined to take this crusade against Female Foeticide to the very last post.' Shashi Ranjan, Publisher GR8! flllihered it with, 'Today, the GR8! Woman Awards have acquired a niche of its own in the minds of the people and that is because our sincerity of purpose is there for anyone to see. We are truly overwhelmed by the support and goodwill of people fi'om all walks of life. We bow to this trust reposed in us and vow to continue with all our crusades with the same vehemence. ' According to Kiran Gera, National Senior Vice President FLO, the Women Wing of FICCI, 'These awards are the biggest, pan India Awards for Women Achievers, covering 24 different categories and they have a very important role to play in our work at FLO, the Women wing of FICCI, Female foeticide is rampant in our country and the consequences will be disastrous, unless something is done soon. When FLO salutes women of excellence through these awards, we are telling everyone... look at these women. Look at their achievements. Give your girl child a chance. She could become like one of them. Let her live.' The Event had its title sponsor in Kelvinator and the other associates were Air Sahara (Airline Partners), Sony TV (Telecast Pminers), Big FM (Radio Partners), Chambor Cosmetics and AUM Jewellery.
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