Jay Nesh, Manjari, Eswari Among Winners At Pradhana Vizha 2021

Jay Nesh and Manjari were named Most Popular Male and Female Artiste respectively at last night's (Mar 27) Pradhana Vizha 2021, Mediacorp’s biennial awards show that honours the best in local Indian entertainment.

Jay Nesh, who's also known by his full name Jaya Ganesh Isuran, co-hosted the 17th edition of Pradhana Vizha at The Theatre at Mediacorp with Karthikeyan, Haleema, Udaya Soundari, and Saravanan Ayyavoo.

Mediacorp’s Eaglevision emerged as the evening’s biggest winner, with its programmes bagging a total of seven wins in the programme categories for Best Entertainment Series, Best Drama and Best Entertainment Special; as well as in the performance and creative categories for Best Host (Entertainment), Best Direction (Other Genres), Best Original Screenplay, and Best Videography (Drama).

Elsewhere, Mediacorp’s Oli 968 picked up the inaugural Best Radio Programme for Uravugal Thodarkathi by Gunalan Morgan.

In a pre-recorded segment, K Shanmugan, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to P Krishnan, a veteran radio producer and presenter whose long and illustrious career spanned various aspects of broadcasting, from news reading to disk-jockeying, acting, singing, and even directing and producing notable content. He had also previously received the Cultural Medallion in 2008 for his contribution to Tamil literature and Tamil language.

Thank you for your contribution: Producer, presenter, DJ, singer, actor and director P Krishnan received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Other show highlights include a medley of retro-style song-and-dance by Ebi Shankara, Guna, Pavitra Renuka, Dhurgashini, Pavithra Nair, Aneetha and Mark Sara and Suthashini, as well as local dance troupe Rameshwara; and performances by Vansantham’s veteran artistes Suriamoorthy, Vijaydran, Gunaselvam, Prasanna and Vikneswari.

Here's the full list of winners:

/Performance Categories

Best Actor in a Leading Role - Drama Series: Mathialagan (Rowthiram)

Best Actress in a Leading Role - Drama Series: Eswari Gunasagar (Kalaba Kadhala)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Drama Series: Varman Chandra Mohan (Romeo & Juliet)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Drama Series: Manjari (Bommalatam)

Best Actor/Actress in a Negative Role - Drama Series: Stephen Zechariah (Avathaaram)

Best Actor/Actress in a Comedy Role - Drama Series: Jayaganesh Isuran (Adukku Veettu Annasamy)

Best New Comer - Drama Series: Veronica Shaw (Yaar 2)

Best Host – Entertainment: Saravanan Ayyavoo (Amarkala Deepavali 2019)

Best Host – Info: Udaya Soundari (Udayam 2)

Shining Star: Harjeet (Neo)

Best Original Singer: Pavithra Shreedharan Nair (Singa Airlines, ‘Kadhal Varam’)

/Programme Categories

Best Drama Series: Uyire

Best Entertainment Series: Music Junction

Best Entertainment Special (Single): Amarkala Deepavali 2019

Best Info-Ed/Docu-Drama Series: Oru Manithanin Kathai

Best Infotainment/Lifestyle Series: Kanavu Meipada Season 2

Best Reality/Gameshow Series: Savaal Singapore S6

Best Talkshow: Nerukku Naer S2

Best Children's Series: My Dear Kudumbam Returns

Best Radio Programme: Uravugal Thodarkathai by Gunalan Morgan

Creative Categories

Best Direction (Drama): Vel Murugan (Rowthiram)

Best Direction (Other Genres): Anuratha Kanderaju (Amarkala Deepavali 2018)

Best Original Screenplay: Kumaran Sundram & Raja Tamilmaran (Arivaan)

Best Scripting (Drama): TT Dhavamani (Guru Paarvai S4)

Best Scripting (Other Genres): T.N. Sanjeevi (Rayil Sneham S4)

Best Videography (Drama): Gopal Kandasamy (Arivaan)

Best Original Track: Shabir (Composer) & Jaya Rathakrishnan (Lyricist), ‘Kalaba Kadhala’

/Popular Awards

Most Popular Programme: Ms V Supreme 2019

Most Popular Male Personality: Jaya Ganesh Isuran

Most Popular Female Personality: Manjari

/Lifetime Achievement Award: P Krishnan

Fans can catch Pradhana Vizha 2021 on meWATCH and Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube.