Sunday, June 22, 2003		In The Spotlight

Mohnish Behl, Nandy shine at the RAPA Awards nite

The 28th RAPA Awards made for a starry evening with a medley of winners, performers and glamorous guests.

Mohnish Behl receives the Best Performance of the Year Award for his role in TV serial Sanjeevani

THE plush Taj Land's End was the venue of the 28th RAPA (The Radio and Television Advertisers Practitioner's Association, India) Awards held in Mumbai recently. MTV VJs Ramona and Vivan played hosts of the evening.

RAPA, which began more than two decades ago, is an independent body in which professionals from radio, advertising and television participate and recognise excellence in the three fields. Also, it is the only organisation that includes radio on its award agenda.

The awards ceremony was interspersed with performances which included a Sufi rendition by Indira Nair and a musical jig by the Gurlz group.

Glamour personalities from Bollywood were invited to do the honours. Actresses Varsha Usgaonkar, Poonam Dhillon, Ayesha Jhulka and Pallavi Joshi and actors Kabir Bedi, achin, Mukesh Shaktimaan Khanna and Faisal Khan were part of this celebrity dazzle. Rewards for radio.

The spot/trailer (English) for the film Road won Radio Midday an award while Win 94.6 FM was given the award for a non-film Hindi show Khanak.

President of the RAPA Council, Brij Mittle's company D.S. Mittle & Sons won a RAPA for the Best Radio Spot/Trailor (Film) for Deewangee.

Radio Mirchi bagged two of the 17 awards in the radio category for Best English Jingle and Best English Non-Film Radio Programme.

FCB Ulka Advertising Pvt Ltd’s commercial Minto topped the English category while Aamir Khan's Coca Cola (soni kudi) ad headed the Hindi entries.

Apocalyspso Filmwork's black n white campaign for the TV channel Aaj Tak won RAPA’s S. S. Oberoi Trophy for the best campaign of the year.

Hindi Television's Best Comedy award was won by Pankaj Kapur's Office Office. The nostalgic Kuch Yaadein Kuch Baatein was given the award for the Best Film Show.

While CID was judged the best thriller, the reality talk show Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai, was credited for being the best in the same category.

The wit-every-minute Shekhar Suman was adjudged the Best Anchor while Sagarika music won the Best Video Award for Aika Dajiba.

Also, the film on President APJ Kalam, titled Rameshwaram Se Rashtrapati, won the Best Soft Story Award for Aaj Tak News.

It was a defining moment for director Sourabh Narang as he received the RAPA for the weekly series Haqeeqat, produced by BAG films. The programme won popularity for spotlighting the exploited and oppressed. This was Narang's third consecutive award.

Music composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy bagged the RAPA for the Best Title Song for the serial Kahin Na Kahin Koi Hai on Sony TV.

Pritish Nandy Communications bagged two RAPAs for Best Feature Film Promos (Jhankaar Beats) and Best Telecast of Live Programmes (The Sansui Viewer's Choice Awards). Moreover, Pritish Nandy, poet-journalist and corporate, was honoured with the Rapa Hamid Sayani Trophy for all-round contribution to the media.

But the man of the moment was actor Mohnish Behl, who was awarded the Best Performance of the Year for the portrayal of Dr Shashank in Cinevistaas’ Sanjeevani, a romance saga set against a medical backdrop. LMN