NEW DELHI: The Nominations for the 59th Idea Filmfare Awards (South) were announced at a press meet in Chennai yesterday evening.

The award ceremony will be held at Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, (Nehru Indoor Stadium), Chennai on 7 July.

Actor Amla Paul along with Filmfare Editor Jitesh Pillaai and Idea Cellular Chief Marketing officer Sashi Shankar addressed the press meet.

Pillaai said, ?I?ve grown up on South films. I hold all the South stars, composers, directors and technicians in great esteem. It gives me great pleasure to come down South year-after-year to celebrate excellence in cinema. The South industry has accepted me as a part of their extended family and I?m looking forward to coming to Chennai on July 7th and participating in yet another gala event.?

On this association for the 5th year in a row, Shankar said, ??As in the past we hope that the event is grand with scintillating performances. Idea and Filmfare have long been closely associated and this is our way of honouring the people who have given us the magic of movies. Idea?s association with such premium programs enables it to offer rich content to its subscribers, making it the highest VAS revenue grosser in the industry. This year with the additions to our 3G portfolio including the new Idea 3G smartphones and affordable 3G tariffs, Idea subscribers and fans across Tamil Nadu and Chennai can access exclusive movie content on our 2G & 3G network.?

The Filmfare Awards (South) were first held at the prestigious Kalaivanar Arangam in Chennai. Eventually it shifted to the distinctive Music Academy. Initially, only Tamil and Telugu films were considered for the awards and later, Malayalam and Kannada films became part of the event in 1966 & 1969 respectively. The spirit of the awards lies in its popularity not just amongst the masses but also the film fraternity. It is the ultimate recognition of talent.

This year too, South Indian audiences were invited to vote for their favourites across 10 categories each, in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam films. Nominees have been selected through the public voting process that Filmfare is known for. Specially appointed juries have been set up to further wet the nominees and select the final winners.