Bengaluru: Radio City 91.1F announced the second leg of Radio City Cine Awards Kannada, at a glittering launch event held at Mantri Square The awards will recognise exceptional artistes and technicians of the Kannada film fraternity.

The grand launch was graced by leading ladies of the Sandalwood industry Shruti Hariharan, Suman Ranganathan, Radhika Chethan, Sharmila Mandre, Sangeeta Bhat, Neethu Shetty, Manvitha Harish, Sparsha Rekha, Karunya Raam and Hitha Chandrashekar and actor Srinagar Kitty, and was hosted by Radio City RJ Pradeepa and RJ Nethra.

Radio City Cine Awards Kannada aims to strengthen the connection between listeners and their favourite celebrities. Nominees and winners will be determined based on public voting which will be available via traditional mediums on-air, SMS, and new-age mediums namely Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp. The unique selection process will allow listeners from the city to vote for their favourite stars. Voting for public opens on Tuesday, September 26 across platforms like SMS, new-age mediums Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp.

Favourite celebrities will be nominated under ten different categories namely Favourite Actor, Favourite Actress, Favourite Director, Favourite Lyricist, Favourite Music Composer, Favourite Singer (Male), Favourite Singer (Female), Favourite Comedian, Favourite Cinematographer and Favourite Movie.

The awards will culminate in a grand award night on-air where winners will be announced and felicitated.

At the launch, Abraham Thomas, CEO, Radio City said, “Very few award platforms aim to empower the consumer and recognise talent, based on public opinion. We are certain that Radio City Cine Awards will not only be a platform for our listeners and audience to choose their favourite artistes, but also be a bridge between Kannada stars and their fans. We extend our best wishes to all artists and technicians who have made 2017 an entertaining year for Kannadigas and look forward to felicitating them at the grand finale.”

Commenting on the launch of the Radio City Cine Awards, Suman Ranganathan said, “Movies are intrinsic to our culture and are amongst common forms of entertainment in Karnataka and the rest of India. Radio City Cine Awards is a great initiative by Radio City that not only provides recognition to artistes and technicians who have worked hard through the year but also empowers the listeners by allowing them to nominate and vote for their favourite celebrities. I am certain that Radio City Cine Awards will go a long way in upholding the trust of listeners and enable them to show their immense passion towards the Kannada film industry.”

To make the celebration grander, Radio City will kickstart the sixth year of ‘Studio Ratha’ an annual celebration of Dussehra in Bengaluru. Radio City’s most popular morning show ‘Aithalakdi Mornings’ will be aired live for five days from the Ratha. Listeners will get a chance to meet their favourite RJs and go on air from Studio Ratha. Many renowned celebrities from Bengaluru will be a part of it. The activity will span for five days, covering Bengaluru. It started on September 25.