Nine eminent personalities who have helped shape Maharashtra in fields as diverse as sport and social work were feted at the first ever Godrej No 1 Sahyadri Navratna Puraskar 2002 held in Mumbai on Saturday, 27 April.

The venue of the honours was the Poolside, Juhu Centaur Hotel, Mumbai.

Organised by Mumbai-based television information and services company Indian Television Dot Com Pvt. Ltd., the Sahyadri Navratna Puraskar 2002 are the first of their kind instituted to recognise nine outstanding Marathi achievers from different walks of life such as film, music, theatre, television, sports, social work, business and media. DD Sahyadri supports these awards.

Those felicitated were -

Swar Ratna (for excellence in music) - Shri Sudhir Phadke
Chitra Ratna (for excellence in films) - Smt Sulochana
Seva Ratna (recognition of work rendered to the cause of people) - Shri Baba Amte
Ratna Darpan (for excellence in media) - Shri D B Karnik
Natya Darpan (for excellence in theatre) - Shri Vijay Tendulkar
Ratna Saurabh (for excellence in sport) - Shri Nandu Natekar
Ratna Vahini Yogadaan (recognition of outstanding Marathi television channel) - DD Sahyadri
Ratna Sharada - (recognition of achievement by a woman in any field) - Smt Prema Purao
Vaibhav Ratna - (recognition of outstanding achievement in industry/ business - Shri Rahul Bajaj

Former sheriff Nana Chudasama presented Baba Amte's award to Shri Ramesh Kacholia, who handles Anandvan operations in Mumbai. Rahul Bajaj's nephew Anant Bajaj accepted the Vaibhav Ratna on his behalf from Sabe TV vice chairman Markand Adhikari. Renowned film personality Rohini Hattangady accepted the Natya Ratna on behalf of Tendulkar, who was unable to attend the function due to ill health. Pt Jasraj presented the Swar Ratna to Sudhir Phadke, while the Chitra Ratna was presented to Sulochanabai by film producer Ramanand Sagar. Five retired directors of the Mumbai Doordarshan Kendra were present to give away the Ratna Vahini Yogadaan award to DDK Mumbai director Mukesh Sharma.

Former India cricket captain Ajit Wadekar presented the Ratna Saurabh to Nandu Natekar, while the Ratna Darpan was presented by newly appointed sheriff Kiran Shantaram and Maharashtra Times editor Bharatkumar Raut. The Ratna Sharada was awarded to Prema Purao by Maharashtra government cultural secretary Govind Swarup.

The three-hour ceremony was interspersed with entertainment programmes that highlighted the cultural and folk traditions of the state. The shows included typically Maharashtrian dance shows, mimicry items, and excerpts from the hugely popular music show on DD Sahyadri, Tak Dhina Dhin.

The show was hosted by well known television personalities Pradeep Bhide and Mrinal Kulkarni. The highlights of the evening were a lavani show by Pune based Shefali Lahoti and her group, typically Marathi shows like the Powada, Waghya Murali, Vasudev and Bharud and a farmers' group dance as well as a scene enacted from the Dashavtar.

An esteemed jury panel of industry professionals and experts helped in short-listing the nominations for the various categories. The jury included -

Former India cricket captain Shri Ajit Wadekar
Maharashtra Times editor Shri BharatKumar Raut
Maharashtra Government Cultural Secretary Shri Govind Swarup
Theatre personality Shri Kamlakar Sontakke
Sabe TV Vice Chairman Shri Markand Adhikari
IMPPA President and Mukti Foundation President Smt Smita Thackeray
Film and TV personality Shri Sachin Pilgaonkar.

The award ceremony will be aired on May 1, 2002 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on DD-Mumbai terrestrial Marathi.

Click here for profiles of the Awardees

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