Foundations TV launched its first Red Carpet Awards Event, on April 9th, 2017. This was a sold out event attended by 380 attendees that included, sponsors, nominees, performers and guests. The event began with a grand VIP reception during which guests had the opportunity to do Red Carpet interviews. Spectacular photo booths were set up for all attendees to be photographed. After a full hour of networking and socializing, the elaborate event began in the auditorium. The event included 10 selected performances and 18 awards that were announced. Each award was announced by a special guest who opened the sealed envelope on stage to release the name of the winner. The auditorium roared with enthusiasm and each winner proudly walked to receive the prestigious trophy on stage. A specially created video played in the background to celebrate the win of each winner.

Gauri Chandna, the co-founder said that this is a new concept within the South Asian community, to celebrate the talent. “We had a vision and were not quite sure how this would evolve, but our core team worked really hard to make this a reality. And our sponsors believed in us from day 1. An event of such magnitude that required co-ordination between so many different teams that included, nominees, jury, advisers, performers, and the technical team could not have been so successful without the hard work and diligence of our core team. This was our first year and we have some lessons learnt as well. We hope to continue to evolve and grow and make this our annual celebratory event.”

The following award were announced

TECHNICAL AWARDS
Best Photography - Deepa Jacob
Best Sound Engineering - Jawed Wahid
Best Costumes - Boston Kalakshetra

TALENT AWARDS
Best Instrumentalist - Phil Scarff
Best Singer Child - Sachi Badola
Best Singer Female - Jayasri Majumdar
Best Singer Male - Ajay Koul
Best Dancer Female - Sreeja Jayasankar
Best Dancer Male - Natarajan Alagappan
Best Choreographer - Shaila Verma
Best Actor Female - Madu Iyer
Best Actor Male - Ajay Jain
Best Director - Subrata Das
Event Of The Year Awrd - Drishya 2016

COMMUNITY AWARDS
Divine Heart Center Community Award For Philanthropic Work - Roopa Modha
Inspirational Youth Award - Divya Navani
Sumathi Narayanan Community Award for Thought Leadership - Kanniks Kannikeswaran
Mentorship Award - Cherag and Anurag Selhi

All winners were extremely thrilled and happy to receive the prestigious Foundations TV Award.

Phil Scraff, the winner of Best Instrumentalist award 2016, said,” Hats off to Gauri Chandna and the Foundations TV team for providing a forum for celebrating the immense talent in the community and putting together such a wonderful event. It is particularly creditable that Foundations TV selected award winners based on the accomplishments, talent, and contributions of the nominees. We look forward to the continuing success of the Red Carpet Awards!”

A real-time motion capture animated dance that uses perception neuron technology was attempted for the first time on New England stage. Natarajan Alagappan, the dancer and winner of Best Dancer – Male award said, “I am honored to receive this prestigious award. This award is a big milestone in my career and first step to achieve my big dream. It has boosted me to work hard to reach my ultimate goal. Thanks a lot Foundations TV for recognizing my talent. "You fail only when you stop trying".” Natarajan has auditioned for America’s got talent and has crossed the first level a few times. He hopes to pursue his dream and never give up.

The Best director award went to Subrata Das, co-founder and director of SETU, Stage Ensemble Theater Unit. “The award adds inspiration to SETU’s underlying non-profit mission since 2003 to build bridges between India and the western cultures. The Foundations TV certainly made our foundations for building bridges stronger."

Madu Iyer alias Madusree Krishnan, the winner for Best Actor Female category is a published model, TV host, actress and the beauty pageant titleholder of Miss India International 2016. Upon accepting the Foundations TV Best Actor Female Award, Madu stated that ,”The Challenging thing about acting is to try not to act but truly embody the character to tell their story. I came to this country on my own at the age of 23 and it means a lot to me to be recognized by the New England community. My Mother Rajee Krishnan who is in India is my backbone and role model. I wish she was here to witness this glorious moment as this is my Oscar moment. My Debut movie,”The Face Beneath” was exhilarating and the character has tapped into raw emotions to showcase the anguish the poor woman went through. I owe this award to my Director, Ratish Nair who was there throughout to bring the best from my performance. The Foundations TV is a great platform to give you the right exposure and showcase the talent. Words are powerless to express my gratitude to the jury team, judges, Gauri Chandna and Niraj Jetly. You have given me the infinite strength to keep making those dreams  come true and thank you for everything!”

Echoing the same thought, winner of Best Actor Award, Ajay Jain, said “Wanted to convey my sincere appreciation to Gauri Chandna, Niraj Jetly and entire Foundation TV team for such a unique event and the honor. I got to meet some excellent talents and community leaders in the event, which was also very entertaining. Also, my gratitude to all my teachers and my directors who took chance on me and taught me how to act.  Above all I’m grateful for encouragement and unconditional support and love that I get from my family to follow my passion especially my parents, my wife Rekha and my kids Abhi and Riti.”

“Dance is my passion. If you follow your heart and make your passion your career, then you will never get tired of working and you will wake up every morning re-energized to create something new. So, I want to inspire everyone to go pursue your dreams, and nurture your passion. Thank you Foundations TV for the great honor and all my dear students for dancing with me along this wonderful journey”, said Shaila Verma, the winner of the Best Choreographer Award 2016.

Roopa Modha, a lawyer and the winner of Community Work for Philanthropy shared what motivates her to do philanthropic work. "I feel truly humbled and blessed to receive the Foundations TV award for my philanthropic work. We are living in an age of ‘selfies’, but I hope we can reach an age of ‘selflessness!’  I strongly believe we all have the ability to make a positive difference in the world. Even if you can better one other person’s life, you should!"

Best Singer Ajay Koul, moved audiences with his electrifying performance and bagged the Best Singer – Male Award for 2016. “It's such an honor to be awarded the Best Singer award for 2016, and I am very thankful to the jury of the Foundations TV Red Carpet Awards event. The event was one of a kind, with amazing red carpet VIP reception and fantastic entertainment. Hats off to Gauri and her team...... Look forward to Red Carpet Awards 2018!"

Event of the Year Award went to NEMA’s Drishya 2016. The New England Malayalee Association (NEMA), has been part of the cultural landscape since 2004. NEMA is a nonprofit organization promoting knowledge and understanding of the culture of Kerala. Drishya is NEMA’s talent show, a great platform for kids and adults alike and from a 100 participant event, 6 years ago and it has grown to a five day event, 900+ participant extravaganza. On winning the award, Asha Manish, the 2016 president of NEMA said, “We are thankful to the Indian communities in the greater Boston area and all the wonderful people in it that has helped Drishya to become a grand success. We hope you will continue to support us as we take it in to the future. I would like to thank all the wonderful volunteers who worked tirelessly to make Drishya the Grand success, it is today.”

The Foundations TV Red Carpet event , being nicked named ‘Indian Oscars’ by the community was sponsored by Sumathi Narayanan Realty, Divine Heart Center, ZipLyfe, McDonalds, Vlink, Trantor Inc, New York Life, Bhavna’s Wellness Group, Collaborate Inc, Chinese Mirch, Aadhya Signature Event Decorators and Committee to Select Rashid Shaikh as Selectman, Shrewsbury.

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