RRR, Kantara, Sita Ramam, KGF: Chapter 2 steal thunder at SIIMA

The award shows ran from September 15-16 in Dubai, with the first night announcing winners in the Telugu and Kannada categories and the second for Tamil and Malayalam

New Delhi: The South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) have concluded, and films RRR, Sita Ramam, 777 Charlie, Kantara and KGF: Chapter 2 stole the thunder.

The award shows ran from September 15-16 in Dubai, with the first night announcing winners in the Telugu and Kannada categories and the second for Tamil and Malayalam.

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For the unversed, SIIMA stands to honour the artistry of South Indian cinema in all the four languages: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, as well as provide a platform for South Indian cinemas to get more international reception. South cinema began making some headway into the international markets such as Japan, South Korea, China, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey, primarily due to the charm of superstar Rajinikanth as early as the 90s.

Though it only made some major inroads in 2015, with director S.S. Rajamouli‘s Telugu epic franchise, Baahubali, and then exploded with RRR in 2022, giving it full attention in the West. The biggest awards went to the films Sita Ramam, RRR, Kantara, Major, 777 Charlie and KGF: Chapter 2.

In the Telugu category, the biggest competition was between RRR and Sita Ramam, with the latter winning the category for Best Film while RRR won the award for Best Director and Best Actor. RRR led the Telugu race with over 11 nominations, while Sita Ramam gave an intense competition with over 10 nods.

This was followed by DJ Tillu with over eight nods, Major with six, along with Karthikeya 2, Bheemla Nayak and Dhamaka with five, Sarkaru Vaari Paata with four, Bimbisara and Ashoka Vanamlo Arjuna Kalyanam with three, and Yashoda, HIT: The Second Case, Virata Parvam and Masooda with two nods.

In the Kannada category KGF: Chapter 2 led the race with 11 nominations alongside Kantara. This was followed by Vikrant Rona seven, 777 Charlie with six and Love Mocktail 2 with five.