Pradhana Vizha 2022: celebrating the biggest, boldest and brightest of local Indian entertainment
Singapore, 10 December 2022 – Big. Bold. Bright. These words encapsulate Pradhana Vizha 2022 as the festivities of Mediacorp’s annual awards show swung into full gear at Capitol Theatre on 23 November, and came to a rousing end at The Theatre at Mediacorp earlier this evening! Split into two ceremonies for the first time ever, the 18th edition of Singapore’s largest Indian entertainment event presented an unprecedented total number of 42 awards across both nights, reaffirming Mediacorp’s commitment to recognise both onscreen and offscreen talents, as well as the innovative content across the local media industry.
Hosted by Mediacorp’s Oli 968 DJ Haleema Asman and actor-hosts Thavanesan Sivananthan and Karthikeyan Somasundaram, Pradhana Vizha Part One saw 20 awards conferred on the biggest names, boldest stories, and brightest stars. Of new categories introduced to recognise the latest content formats and exceptional behind-the-scenes talent, the inaugural award for Best Limited Drama Series went to period drama Parambarai by Stardust Story Pte Ltd; Best Editing (Scripted) was awarded to Yuan Qing Tan for superhero series Amartyan; while Best Editing (Unscripted) went home with Fahmy Riza and Shireen Halimah for info-ed series Oru Nodiyil S2.
The awards extravaganza was graced by Minister S Iswaran, Minister for Transport & Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, who presented the esteemed Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr V Balakrishnan. As a producer, the industry stalwart has made invaluable contributions to the media industry and arts and heritage sector across four decades, and continues to make ripples in the new talents he has nurtured across a diverse range of projects. The momentous award drew Part One to a poignant close – but not before the nominees for the much coveted Most Popular Male and Female Personality Awards were announced, leaving fans with an impassioned drive to vote for their favourite celebrities.
Anticipation crescendoed steadily over two weeks, as the popularity contest only closed at 10.30pm the night of Pradhana Vizha Part Two, hosted by Mediacorp’s Oli 968 DJ Gunalan Morgan and multi-hyphenate artistes Jaynesh Isuran, Magalakshmi Sudarsanan and Shamini Gunasagar. The theatre erupted into cheers as host Gunalan Morgan and Suthasini Rajenderan were crowned king and queen of the polls respectively, and their triumphs were celebrated alongside S. Jaburdeen and Udaya Soundari, who won Best Actor and Best Actress for their roles in Oruvan and CID Sakoonthala respectively.
A star-studded line-up of award presenters including Huda Ali and Suhaimi Yusoff kept the atmosphere electric throughout the night, and congratulations abound as 22 awards were conferred. Of these, Karthikeyan Somasundram and Pannerselvam were the inaugural winners for brand new award categories Best Leading Performance and Best Supporting Performance in a Single Episode / Telemovie / Anthology Episode respectively. These performing categories were introduced alongside those for Best Digital Short-Form Series and Best Single Episode / Telemovie / Anthology Episode, in a show of Mediacorp’s dedication to evolve alongside audience preferences for programmes of varying length in an ever-evolving multi-platform mediascape.
In a surprise award that buoyed the biggest dreams and boldest ambitions, a Special Digital Recognition Award was also conferred to 360 Entertainment Pte Ltd for Tamil web series Naam S1, which depicts the lives of six passionate musicians who struggle to find a stage to prove their talents. Having garnered more than 40 million views on YouTube, it is not only the most watched Vasantham content, but also surpassed all viewership records across languages and shows at Mediacorp, triumphantly elevating local content to the global stage. This special award adds to Naam’s growing list of accolades, as its music video Naam – Adi Penne (Duet), boasting a spectacular 240 million views on YouTube, had nabbed Content of The Year at Mediacorp’s inaugural content creator awards The Pinwheels in February 2022.
Please refer to Annex A for the full list of winners of Pradhana Vizha 2022.
To celebrate nominees and awardees alike, interspersed between the award presentations was a scintillating array of performances. Opening the show was a riveting dance number by eight-member dance group Megageniez and the four hosts, who lit up the night with a series of expert moves involving a bike and two swings. On the music front, audiences were treated to two uniquely mesmerising song medleys, firstly by artiste Vishnu Balaji in a duet with popular Indian playback singer Madhushree, famed for lending her voice across Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Kannada and Telugu film soundtracks, followed by a performance of today’s latest hits by local personalities Arockia Doss, Suthasini Rajenderan, Elamaran Natarajan, Jayita Ashwini and Kavina. As the night drew to a close, the multi-talented hosts joined local artistes Ravi G, Baharudin, Thavanesan, Whi-T and Maahes on a finale dance item performed to funky viral single Jalabulajangu.
Angeline Poh, Chief Customer & Corporate Development Officer, Mediacorp, said: “Pradhana Vizha honours the best of talents and content in Singapore’s Indian entertainment industry, and we are extremely proud to be celebrating with a bumper crop of awards this year, including a special recognition for local YouTube phenomenon Naam S1 which we believe will inspire Singapore storytellers to reach for the stars. The rich music and dance acts showcased on both nights also reflect the vibrant heritage of the community, and we hope our audiences enjoyed the celebrations as much as we did. Heartiest congratulations once again to all the winners!”
Fans who wish to relive the best moments of Pradhana Vizha 2022 Part One and Part Two may also catch the show on-demand on meWATCH. For more information, please visit mediacorp.sg/pradhanavizha.
Annex A - Pradhana Vizha 2022 Winners’ List
Winners announced at Pradhana Vizha 2022 Part One
Award Category |
Winners |
Series |
Production House |
Best Young Star |
Aashinnyaa |
Azhagiya Thamizh Magal S2 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Editing (Unscripted) |
Fahmy Riza & Shireen Halimah |
Oru Nodiyil S2 |
Verite Productions Pte Ltd |
Best Editing (Scripted) |
Yuan Qing Tan |
Amartyan |
Stardust Story Pte Ltd |
Best Cinematography (Scripted) |
Devamanikandan Kannaya Somu |
Amartyan |
Stardust Story Pte Ltd |
Best Radio DJ |
Haleema Asman |
Valentine’s Day Special |
Oli 968, Mediacorp |
Best Radio Programme | Singapenne | Oli 968, Mediacorp | |
Best Scripting (Unscripted) |
Karthikeyan Somasundram |
Pradhana Vizha 2021 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Scripting (Scripted) |
Jaya Rathakrishnan |
Parambarai |
Stardust Story Pte Ltd |
Best Original Screenplay |
Jaya Rathakrishnan |
Parambarai |
Stardust Story Pte Ltd |
Best Direction (Unscripted) |
Haider Ali |
Amarkala Deepavali 2021 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Direction (Scripted) |
Kumaran Sundaram |
Jillendru Oru Kalavaram |
Storybots Asia Pte Ltd |
Best Original Singer |
Meenakshy Jyothish |
Maasigaiye |
Blue River Pictures Pte Ltd |
Best Original Track |
Shabir Tabare Alam |
Vettai S5 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Limited Drama Series) |
Kokila |
Massigaiye |
Blue River Pictures Pte Ltd |
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Limited Drama Series) |
Sivakumar Palakrishnan |
Kalaiyarasi Vayadhu 47, Vaagana Ottunar |
VIP Media Productions Pte Ltd |
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Limited Drama Series) |
Indra Chandran |
Kalaiyarasi Vayadhu 47, Vaagana Ottunar |
VIP Media Productions Pte Ltd |
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Limited Drama Series) |
Raghadeepan |
Asoora Vettai |
PerfectImage00 Entertainment Pte Ltd |
Award Category |
Series |
Production House |
Best Limited Drama Series |
Parambarai |
Stardust Story Pte Ltd |
Best Children’s Series |
Sagaasa Club |
Ananya Productions |
Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient |
Mr V Balakrishnan |
Winners announced at Pradhana Vizha 2022 Part Two
Award Category |
Winners |
Series |
Production House |
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Drama Series) |
S. Jaburdeen |
Oruvan |
PerfectImage00 Entertainment Pte Ltd |
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Drama Series) |
Udaya Soundari |
CID Sakoonthala |
Stardust Story Pte Ltd |
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Drama Series) |
S. Jaburdeen |
Achamillai Maname |
Storybots Asia |
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Drama Series) |
Yuvina Malathi Ram |
Salanam |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Performance in a Leading Role (Single Episode / Telemovie/ Anthology Episode) |
Karthikeyan Somasundram |
Kaalam |
PerfectImage00 Entertainment Pte Ltd |
Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Single Episode / Telemovie / Anthology Episode) |
Panneerselvam |
Blk 414D |
Organized Mayhem |
Best Performance in an Antagonist Role (Drama Series) |
Gunalan Morgan |
Achamillai Maname |
Storybots Asia |
Best Comedy Performance (Drama Series) |
Udaya Soundari |
Adukku Vettu Annasamy 2: 80's Lootty! |
Cosmic Ultima Pictures LLP |
Most Promising Actor / Actress (Drama series) |
Sriram |
Ayalaan |
Blue River Pictures Pte Ltd |
Best Host (Entertainment) |
Udaya Soundari |
Amarkala Deepavali 2021 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Host (Information) |
Karthikeyan Somasundram |
Mahakavi |
Gravitas Media Pte Ltd |
Award Category |
Winner |
Most Popular Male Personality |
Gunalan Morgan |
Most Popular Female Personality |
Suthasini Rajenderan |
Award Category |
Series |
Production House |
Best Long-Form Drama Series |
Achamillai Maname |
Storybots Asia |
Best Single Episode / Telemovie / Anthology Episode |
Jilendru Oru Kalavaram |
Storybots Asia |
Best Entertainment Special (One-Off) |
Thithikkum Amarkala Deepavali 2020 |
CannonsN'Tulips |
Best Info-Ed/Docu-Drama Series |
Ennulle |
TheMedia |
Best Infotainment/Lifestyle Series |
Vanakkam Singai S3 |
Third eEye Media Pte Ltd |
Best General Entertainment / Reality / Gameshow Series |
Suvai S6 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Best Digital Short-Form Content |
Dhilluku Dhuttu |
Silver Screen International Pte Ltd |
Most Popular Programme |
Amarkala Deepavali 2021 |
Eaglevision, Mediacorp |
Special Digital Recognition |
Naam S1 |
360 Entertainment Productions Pte Ltd |
Media contacts
Lim Zi Ai
Communications Associate
ziai.lim@mediacorp.com.sg
Priyah Sitran Pandian
Communications Associate
Priyah.sitranpandian@mediacorp.com.sg
About Mediacorp
Mediacorp is Singapore’s national media network and largest content creator. Its purpose is to create engaging and trusted content, as well as to connect communities and inspire people. Mediacorp engages over three million people in Singapore daily across four languages on its digital platforms including meWATCH, meLISTEN and CNA.asia, six TV channels and 11 radio stations. Beyond Singapore, Mediacorp also has a growing international audience through CNA and content distributed across markets.
With a focus on nurturing talent and growing the sector, the company is committed to investing in nation-wide initiatives like Star Search, Anugerah, Yaar Antha Star and SPOP, commissioning a wide variety of work from local content creators, and collaborating with institutes of higher learning. As Singapore’s first local Multi-Channel Network in partnership with YouTube, Mediacorp is also committed to developing a network of digital content creators.
For advertisers, Mediacorp has partnered industry-leading brands like ESPN, Mothership, Popcorn, Singapore Tatler, theAsianparent, VICE, YouTube and 99.co to form the Mediacorp Digital Network in offering more effective content-driven solutions.
Mediacorp is the recipient of industry accolades including New York Festivals, World Media Festivals, PromaxBDA (World and Asia) and Asian Academy Creative Awards.
For more information, please visit mediacorp.sg.