Sony and Jassi are winners at Apsara Awards

Sony Entertainment Television and DJ's A Creative Unit, producers of the show Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, had reason to celebrate on the evening of May 29. The television show romped home with key trophies at the first-ever Apsara Awards. Instituted by the Film Producers Guild of India (FPGI) on the occasion of its Silver Jubilee year, the awards recognized excellence in both cinema and television.

Jassi walked away with the coveted Best Actress (Mona Singh), Best Drama Series and Best Director (Rohit Khanna) awards, while Sony Entertainment Television was felicitated for its intelligent and innovative marketing of the show. Eagle Video's Office Office on SAB TV was adjudged the Best Comedy Series, apart from bagging trophies for the Best Ensemble (Cast) in a Television Series and Best Actor (Pankaj Kapoor).

Also on the hallowed list of winners was Crest Communications' Tenali Raman for the Best Animated Series, NDTV's Big Story on Afghanistan for Best Factual/Non-Fiction and ZEE's Sa Re Ga Ma Pa for the Best Musical Show. Balaji Telefilms, though conspicuously absent in most categories, did manage to pocket the Best Television Production Company award, while the title track of Aroona Irani's Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand fetched the Best Title Song trophy. NDTV journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt were declared the Best News Anchors from a lot that included Prabhu Chawla of Aaj Tak and Deepak Chaurasia of DD News. While receiving the trophy, Sardesai, who is managing editor of NDTV India and NDTV 24X7, waxed eloquent about the need for integrity in the field of journalism. "It is sorely missing," he said, capping it with a tongue-in-cheek reminder to "watch NDTV".

Meanwhile, Subhash Chandra, chairman of the Essel Group, which includes companies ZEE Telefilms, Essel Propack, Playwin Infravest, Esselworld, Water Kingdom and Fun Republic among others, was felicitated with a special award for Outstanding Contribution in the field of television.

In the cinema section, the popular awards of Best Actor, Actress, Director and Film went to Hrithik Roshan (Koi Mil Gaya), Urmila Matondkar (Bhoot), Rakesh Roshan (Koi Mil Gaya) and production house Filmkraft (makers of Koi Mil Gaya). Pankaj Kapoor struck it rich for the second time as the winner of the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the film Maqbool, while the Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Jaya Bachchan for Kal Ho Na Ho.

Some of the other prominent awardees included Sonu Nigam (Best Male Playback Singer), Alka Yagnik (Best Female Playback Singer) and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Best Music). Thespian Dilip Kumar was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement award, while directors Raju Hirani (Munnabhai MBBS), Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi (Pinjar) and Nikhil Advani (Kal Ho Na Ho) took centrestage for Best Debut Direction. © 2004 agencyfaqs!