LEXINGTON MA: Foundation TV hosted its Second Annual Program ‘The Best of 2017 Red Carpet Awards’ at Scottish Rite Museum, Lexington, MA on Saturday, April 22 in magnificent style.
The evening grand program was started with an invocation of Krishna Bhajan written by saint poet Surdas and sung by Shuchita Rao. This was followed by welcome cum opening remarks and background information by Gauri Chandna who said that the Foundation TV is a marriage between two ideas: an online video based TV program that appreciates the positivity in community by recognizing and showcasing the amazing amount of talents.
This second annual event invited open nominations from diverse communities from various states in India and USA, Haiti, and China.Sixteen Awards were given in 3 categories: Talent, Technical, and Community. Twenty-five deserving winners were recognized and awarded the prestigious Foundations TV trophy.
A software engineer, Shilpi who is trained in classical Indian music by her Guru Shri Sushil Kumar and Swati Panda mesmerized audiences with impressive Bollywood song sequence. Lochan Karthikeyan, who won the ‘Best Singer Child’ title, presented an immortal and meticulous composition of 1950 ‘Thesulavuthe ‘in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages in Raagamalika Raga.
In the Community Awards category, Philanthropic Work Award was won by Parveen Minocha, who is the current President of Ekal Vidyalaya’s New England Chapter for successfully giving the gift of education to one child, one school, and one village at a time, across rural India. Kriti Badola obtained Youth Inspiration Award and Thought Leadership Award went to Annette Philip, who is one of Women of the World’s musicians. She hails from Kerala and a faculty artistic director of the Berklee India Exchange and the founder and director of the renowned Berklee Indian Ensemble, which has garnered over 21 million views.
Lastly, in the category, The India Circle for Caring was honored by the Best Charity of the Year Award. Tarun Swarnkar, a Mechanical Engineer by profession presented a Hip-Hop lyrical dance performance on a Bollywood Party Dhamaka song. His artistic dance moves stole many hearts. He also recited beautifully a poem to the audience.
In Talent Awards category, the Best Instrumentalist – Male Award was given to Steve Gorn. He is a versatile bamboo flute and saxophone player and one of the few westerners who is recognized to have captured the delicacy and beauty of Indian music. Tania Stavreva, an international pianist was honored with the Best Instrumentalist Female Award for her distinguished performance in the music industry.
The Best Singer Male Award was presented to Nirmal Ramu, who has great passion for Indian Carnatic music. The Best Singer Female Award of the event was given to Shuchita Rao, a well-known Hindustani music performer, teacher and freelance journalist from the Boston area who has published four CDs and a book on classical music. Radha Rao is an undergraduate student and an adaptable musician specializing in North Indian and Western popular music. She mesmerized the Red Carpet audience with her song “As long as you love me” a Western pop hit that expresses one’s passion and desire for love.
The Best Creative Artist Adult Award was given to Pradip Vayalali and the Best Creative Artist Child Award went to Meghana Basi in recognition of her passion and noble cause ‘creating art for charity.’ Manasa Jayanthi who won the Best Dancer Classical Award at the event presented her marvelous semi-classical dance with music mashup of a popular tune presenting an exclusive blend of inclusive diversity to the audience.
The Best Dancer Youth Award went to Ananya Venketesan, who has been dancing and teaching classical and non-classical Indian dance for the past several years. She has won many competitions all around the New England community.
The Best Dancer International Award was given to Poonam Modha for her elegant dancing. The Nashua Ladies group won the Best Dance Group award and presented their traditional Kerala Pooram dance, a blend of folk and classical Bharatanatyam with the combination of flavors of the old song by the band ‘Masala Coffee’ was so refreshing and dazzling to the audience.
The Best Choreographer Award went to Pooja Tiwari, who presented a semi classical Rajasthani folk Ghoomar Dance with her team. Pooja not only teaches but also provides all the dancers with a platform to express their talent and creativity in the community. Sridhar Pol, who is performing acting since his childhood and portraying versatility in his acting was honored with the Best Actor Male award. The Best Actor Female award went to Dipti Mehta, who gives every character their own life and grabs attention of audience for her acting skills. The Best Director Awards category recognizes the efforts of the person who works behind the screen. Simon Soman obtained Best Director Award for his directing achievements.
Sapna Krishnan received the Best Artistic Director Award for exhibiting outstanding artistic direction skills. The Best Event of the Year Award was given with much appreciation to Tamil Makkal Mandram Diwali 2017 Team for its very well organized event with great food and outstanding music and providing top notch hospitality. Dhruv Bhan, an Indian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and sarod player, performed a short medley of Hindi songs with a contemporary flavor along with his team.
In the Technical Awards category, the Best Make Up Artist award was given to Anagha Singh. The Boston Kalakshetra grabbed the Best Costume Awardfor revolutionizing ‘tailored dresses’ and offering an amazing selection of rental and retail costumes and accessories. The Best Photographer Award was given to Aditi Dinakar for her Candid Photography. The Drishya 2017 got the Best Event Management Award for managing competitions that set a new record for the large number of attendees who participated in a local competition event.
This Red Carpet Event was emceed gracefully by Anindita Nanda and Soumya Mohanty. Anindita Nanda is an internationally acclaimed classical dancer, vocalist and a recipient of several national and international awards for her dancing and community outreach activities. Soumya Mohanty is mechanical engineer and wants to be a great role model for her daughter and give back to the society.
Gauri thanked all the sponsors of the event namely, Suhana, Digital Heed, Black Mirchi, Glamhook, VLink, New York Life, Tarana OM Creations, Muneeza Realty Group, Daley and Associates. She also expressed her gratitude to all judges and team members who worked and contributed their time and efforts for the success of the event. She stated her appreciation for the audience for their active participation and support.
Geetha Patil
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