57th South Film fare Awards 2010 Winners- Full list

The bewitching lady in black swept Chennaiites off their feet as the 57th Idea Filmfare Awards 2009 (South) were announced on Saturday night.

Over 40 awards in various categories were given to Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. It was reason to celebrate, raise a toast to cinema, and salute the stars with the oldest and most cherished awards in the country. Malayalam film Pazhassiraja won seven awards, Telugu film Magadheera walked home with six, and national award-winning Tamil film Kanchivaram netted three.

Stars sashayed in chiffons and silks, flashing billion dollar smiles for the shutterbugs. The arrival of Sudha Murthy and Mallika Srinivasan created a flutter.

By 7pm, fans were star spotting, and by 8pm, a host of celebrities were seated. But not before they signed the Billion Hearts Beating campaign board at the entrance. Actor Suriya wrote, Let us make it a heart healthy nation.

Actors Shriya Saran, Simbu, Prabhu Deva, Trisha, Tamannah and Reemaa Sen, directors Shankar and KS Ravikumar, and producer Dayanidhi Alagiri made fashionable entrances. At 10 pm, the celebrities were still arriving Vidya Balan in a gold dress, Mammootty in a blue shirt and director Shankar sporting a huge smile. Emcees Ganesh Venkatraman and Andrea set the tone from the word go, with Andrea declaring herself a Filmfare virgin.

As each award was announced, there were tears and joy. Singer Priya Himesh, who took home an award for Ringa Ringa from Telugu film Arya 2 smiled, declared herself a Tamilian, burst into tears and asked her music director to present the award again.

Lyricist ONV Kurup who won the Black Lady for Kunnathe from Malayalam film Pazhassiraja gave a dignified acceptance speech. Actor Abhinaya, who debuted in Tamil film Nadodigal and has a speech impairment, moved the audience with her thanks.

The awards were interspersed with performances by Vineeth, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Padmapriya, Lakshmi Rai and Sameera Reddy.

In Malayalam, period film Pazhassiraja was judged the best film, while Hariharan was best director. Mammootty, an eternal favourite with Chennai crowds, won best actor and Shweta Menon was best female actor.

Best cinematographer awards went to Senthil Kumar for Magadheera and Thiru for Kanchivaram. Magadheera grabbed awards for best film, best director (SS Rajamouli), best actor (Ram Charan Teja) and best music (MM Keeravani) and best male playback singer (Anuj Guruwara).

In Tamil, Kanchivaram fetched Priyadarshan the best director award, while Prakash Raj won the best actor award for the same film. Shammu, who played his daughter in the movie was the best supporting actor (female). Nadodigal walked off with the best film award, in a year that saw a number of contenders, from commercial pot-boilers such as Ayan and quasi art house films such as Kanchivaram to films with unusual plots such as Pasanga.

Lifetime achievement awards went to Kannada actor Ambareesh and Malayalam thespian KPAC Lalitha. Yuvan Shankar Raja won the special jury award for Telugu film Oye, while actors Yagna Shetty and Srinagar Kitty picked it up for Kannada.

In Kannada, Josh won best film, while Guruprasad won best director for Yeddelu Manjunatha. Ganesh and Priyanka Kothari won best actor awards.

The event was sponsored by title sponsor, Idea; associate sponsor, AAT; telecast partner, Sun TV Network, radio partner Radio Mirchi; hospitality partner The Park; partner, Black Dog; multiplex partner, Orienta Cine Advertising; travel partner, Spice Jet; trophy partner, The Award Gallery; event management, 360 Degrees Experience and event consultants, Oxygen Entertainment.