The highly-anticipated SAIFTA Awards unfolded at the Durban ICC Arena to an appreciative audience of top South African and Indian filmmakers, actors and adoring fans.
The backers, The Department of Economic Development and Tourism, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal and Durban Tourism, shared the platform at the stylish awards, which are the brainchild of SAIFTA creative director, Kedhar Gawde.
In his speech, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal chairperson, Sadha Naidoo, said A vision has just been born.
Fans screamed wildly at the Durban ICC red carpet arrival, which saw some of Bollywood's hottest stars and local actors like Jack Devnarain, Robert Whitehead, Latoya Mangezi, Donnalee Roberts and Mutodi Neshehe, make their grand entrance. South African personalities, Simba and Tatum Keshwar were red-carpet hosts.
The most popular arrivals were those of Bollywood heartthrob John Abraham, Siddharth Malhotra, dancing queen Madhuri Dixit, co-host Dia Mirza and the gorgeous former Miss World and highest-paid Bollywood actress, Priyanka Chopra. Tamil actress, Isha Talwar wore a stunning Alpa and Reena creation which featured a striking combination of Indian and African influences.
The amazing entertainment line-up wowed the audience with more blitz, bling and glamour than the ICC has ever seen. It included a hilarious aerial entrance by popular Ranveer Singh from the expansive Arena ceiling, colourful pyro-technics and special effects. The event kicked off with performances from Tamil dance groups and a stunning fashion show by local designer Haroun Hansrot and Alpa and Reena of Mumbai.
The electric dance sequences gave local performers the opportunity and honour of performing on the same stage as stars like Madhuri Dixit, Priyanka Chopra, Siddharth Malhotra and Ranveer Singh.
A highlight was the special lifetime achievement Madiba' award bestowed on Nelson Mandela and accepted by his grand-daughter, Ndileka Mandela, from veteran actress, Waheeda Rehman.
Ndileka said; I thank you for honouring my grandfather who is still at home and is still ill. We cherish every moment with him and thank everyone for their prayers.
In a true mix of cultures, it was Afrikaans film Die Wonderwerker and TV Series 7de Laan, that emerged as winners of the Best Film' and Best TV Show for the Awards competition period which ran from 1st June 2012 - 31 May 2013.
Craig Strydom, who accepted a special award for Searching For Sugar Man which won The Documentary that Brought the Most Recognition to South Africa, commented; I found the evening highly entertaining and am most impressed with this unique initiative. In fact I would love to work with some of these stars, especially the extraordinarily-talented Ranveer Singh, who has such stage presence.
The charismatic Muthodi Nesheshe won the Best Film Actor' award for his part in Little One' and Best TV Actor' title went to Robert Whitehead for his role as Barker Haines in Isidingo.
Best Actress Award' went to Lindiwe Ndlovu (for her role in Little One) and Best TV Actress' was Baby Cele for her role in Zabalaza. Best debut honours went to Sidharth Malhotra (for Student of the Year) and Huma Qureshi (for Gangs of Wassepur.'
John Abraham won the coveted Youth Icon of the Year award.
Kedhar Gawde, SAIFTA creative director, said; I am more than happy with the first SAIFTA show. It was great to see the interaction of the two countries and to watch the expressions of the mixed audience as they saw local artists like Jailoshini Naidoo performing as Auntie Rhambha and Aaron McIlroy interacting with Indian stars.
The direct and indirect economic impact of the inaugural SAIFTA event on KwaZulu-Natal is expected to exceed R80 million, however an economic impact analysis study is yet to be finalised.
The media coverage which includes television programmes beamed around the world, is valued at R700 million.
Mr Desmond Golding, Head of Department, KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism, commented; This evening marks a major step in positioning KwaZulu-Natal as a film capital. We launched the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission to facilitate film production In the province and tonight proves the value of SAIFTA as a means of attracting top directors and producers to shoot their films in our province. For example, Mukesh Bhatt, who has never filmed an entire film in Durban before, indicated his intention to do so, now that he will have the support of the KZN Film Commission.
Mr Sadha Naidoo commented; Tourism research indicates that the Indian tourism market is one of the most attractive and fastest growing, both in volume and value of its outbound travel flows. Globally, India is one of the fastest growing markets for outbound travel.
Durban's hosting SAIFTA for the next three years presents an exciting opportunity for Tourism KwaZulu-Natal to strategically leverage awareness of the province and its tourism offerings internationally, particularly within the Indian market, which continues to show tremendous growth potential. In 2010, the total number of outbound trips from India exceeded 12.5 million and in 2011 this grew by 11% .
Outbound trips from India are expected to exceed 22 million per year by 2015. In 2012, KZN received a mere 2.4% of the over-100 000 Indian tourist arrivals into South Africa, which was valued to be in the order of 2.3 billion Rand. Tourism KwaZulu-Natal therefore has much to do in ensuring that KwaZulu-Natal becomes a key stop on the Indian traveller's South African itinerary. And the best way to promote the province to these tourists is by Durban and KwaZulu-Natal being the location for Bollywood films.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
02/07/2026
BLAST, a competitive entertainment company focused on esports, has announced more than $133 million in revenue for 2025, representing more than 40% year-over-ye...
02/07/2026
Riedel Communications has announced official SKAARHOJ panel support for SimplyLive production workflows, enabled through the SimplyLive 2.1 release. The integra...
02/07/2026
The Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic has deployed LiveU video-over-bond...
02/07/2026
Gravity Media USA has announced the appointment of Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development, effective July 1, 2026. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Bosto...
02/07/2026
TwelveLabs, a video intelligence company, has announced $100 million in Series B funding co-led by NEA and NAVER Ventures, with participation from Amazon, Radic...
02/07/2026
The Pro Padel League (PPL) has announced a broadcast partnership with USA Sports that will air five PPL championship matches on CNBC during the 2026 season, the...
02/07/2026
LiveLike, a digital fan engagement platform, has announced eight confirmed FIFA ...
02/07/2026
Cobalt Digital has received Future's Best of Show Award, presented by AV Technology at InfoComm 2026, for its blueCORE family of standalone signal processor...
02/07/2026
Synamedia has announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transition...
02/07/2026
The Esports Foundation (EF) and Sony Group Corporation have announced an expanded collaboration for the Esports World Cup 2026 (EWC), taking place in Paris, Fra...
02/07/2026
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. ( Z') has announced exclusive broadcast and digital rights for the Bundesliga in India for five years, beginning with the...
02/07/2026
An effort uniting News, Sports, Local, and Telemundo, the 50+-camera live produc...
02/07/2026
Zoey Deutch, John Slattery, Ken Marino, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, and Ben Wang appe...
02/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
02/07/2026
A new era in unmixing and spectral editing
The latest version of Steinberg's spectral audio-editing software has just arrived, building on the strength...
02/07/2026
Aims to simplify additive synthesis
Sine Machine is the debut launch from Melatonin, a Vienna-based developer who have spent the past six years creating wha...
02/07/2026
Products to remain fully active & supported
Following the news of Native Instruments joining the inMusic brand line-up, Academy and Emmy Award-winning visua...
02/07/2026
What you missed!
Last weekend, Saturday 27 June 2026, saw the debut of Sound On Sounds new GearExpo UK event, the largest dedicated pro-audio event to take ...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Following the successful launch of its inaugural APAC Mentoring Programme last month, the Rise AV APAC Regional Council will bring the conversation around mento...
02/07/2026
Blackmagic PYXIS 6K Used to Shoot Director Takahisa Zeze's Cry Out
Brie Clayton July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Highly mobile camera supports tense and de...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions acquires BFE, expanding its lead in European broadcast, medi...
02/07/2026
Berklee Alum and Faculty Perform at Boston Public Library's 250th Anniversar...
02/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions GmbH, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is acquiring BFE Studio und Medien...
02/07/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has extended the ingest facility at leading Brazilian sports company LiveMode, work...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
The highly-anticipated SAIFTA Awards unfolded at the Durban ICC Arena to an appreciative audience of top South African and Indian filmmakers, actors and adoring fans.
