5th GiMA Awards to be showcased on Star Plus

Mumbai: The 5^th Gionee Star Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA) powered by Hungama.com and Kelloggs Chocos took place in the presence of the cr?me de la cr?me of the music and film fraternity, in a spectacular ceremony at Reliance Media Works, Film City, Goregaon, Mumbai.

The ceremony hosted by Mika Singh and Manish Paul featured stellar performances by celebrated musicians and Bollywood stars including Atif Aslam, Arijit Singh, Pritam, Shraddha Kapoor, Benny Dayal with the Slumgods, Sonu Nigam, Ankit Tewari and Shankar Mahadevan among others. There was a special act by the Music Composers Association of India (MCAI) where Sonu Nigam, Suresh Wadkar, Alka Yagnik, Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sapna Mukherji and Nitin Mukesh among several other stalwarts of the industry paid tribute to Anandji Virji Shah who received the Lifetime Achievement Award - Popular.

The ?Lifetime Achievement Award - Classical? went to Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia presented to him by classical legend Pandit Jasraj. The ?Global Musician Award? was bestowed upon music legend Ustad Zakir Hussain. Daler Mehndi took home the ?Wizcraft Honour for Best Live Performer? and a Special Award for ?Best Music Initiative? was awarded to the Red Bull Tour Bus.  

Queen and Ek Villain tied with 3 awards each leading the film category. A. R. Rahman won awards for Best Film Album for Highway and Best Fusion Album in the non-film category for Coke Studio at MTV Season 3. Armaan Malik won awards for Best Music Debut in both the Film as well as Non-Film category. Shankar Mahadevan won his first award ever for Devotional music.

The ceremony also saw the debut performance of the band NAFS, created by maestro A. R. Rahman. Speaking on the occasion, A.R. Rahman said, ?For me to give a platform to the next generation is my mission and this is one of the first initiatives to represent India internationally. The inspiration behind was Stevie Wonder. It has been my privilege to showcase NAFS at GiMA for the first time ever. ?

 Speaking on the occasion Wizcraft International Entertainment, director, Sabbas Joseph said, ?It has been an absolute honour to bring together some of the world?s finest musicians on a platform like GiMA. We?ve had the privilege of seeing greats like Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Usaat Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman on the same stage today. This is truly a great moment and one that will be treasured for years to come. ?

The award show will be telecasted on Star Plus on 15^th March 2015 at 8pm.