Honours 15 extraordinary Indian men and 2 exceptional women; Karan Thapar gets TV Personality of the Year award
BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | September 30, 2011
GQ India’s Men of the Year Awards, in association with Chivas, commemorated the most outstanding Indian achievers of 2011. In the third year of the awards, GQ honoured 15 extraordinary Indian men and 2 exceptional women, the finest talents in their areas of expertise, from sports to business, film, literature, art and fashion.
Hosted by Vir Das, the evening was brimming with laughter and champagne-fuelled celebration; the audience was entertained by spectacular performances by Grammy-award nominee Melanie Fiona and popular Romanian artist group Akcent, who added to the exuberance of the evening.
The star-studded ceremony saw winners including Shahrukh Khan (Cinematic Icon), Karan Thapar (TV Personality of the year), Farhan Akhtar (Creative Power House), A.R. Rahman (GQ Legend), Imran Khan (Chivas Award for Outstanding Achievement), Kumar Manglam Birla (Businessman of the year), Yuvraj Singh (Sportsman of the year) and Frieda Pinto (Woman of the year) and Anushka Sharma (Excellence Award) among others.
Other than the winners, gracing the red carpet were a host of glitterati including Karan Johar, Gauri Khan, Deepika Padukone, Simi Garewal, Leander Paes, Parmeshwar Godrej and Rohan Sippy to name a few.
On the awards ceremony, Alex Kuruvilla, Managing Director Condé Nast India said, “The 3rd edition of the GQ Men of the Year, with a power-packed line-up that includes Shahrukh Khan, Frieda Pinto, Kumar Mangalam Birla and A.R. Rahman proves once again that GQ is the ultimate arbiter of style and success in India.”
Adds Che Kurrien, Editor, GQ India, “We scoured the country to unearth and celebrate its most powerful and stylish men. Our winners are a unique mix of business and media leaders, actors and sportsmen, thinkers and artists – in other words, a congregation of India's most accomplished men.”
The celebratory event brought together partnership with leading luxury brands – Chivas, BMW, Chopard, Grand Hyatt, Broadview and Star World.
“GQ Men of the Year recognizes outstanding people who have made a contribution to their field of work or society. Chivas Regal has been, and will remain, an intrinsic part of this brotherhood”, commented Bikram Basu, Vice President, Marketing, Pernod Ricard India.
Dr. Andreas Schaaf, President of BMW India shared, “BMW stands for performance, achievement, elegance and style; in a nutshell – Premium and at the top. This is why BMW India chose the GQ Men of the Year Awards for the India launch of the new BMW 6 Series Coupe. It is the perfect vehicle of choice for the extraordinary men whose achievements and style GQ celebrates through these awards.”
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard said, “Chopard is honoured to be a partner of the GQ Men of the Year Awards 2011. As a high end watch and jewellery brand, we value excellence and tradition as much as passion and we are looking forward to celebrating inspirational men and outstanding women.”
For over a decade, the GQ Men of the Year awards ceremonies have been congregations of some of the most stylish personalities – and the awards themselves, significant markers of achievement – in both America and Britain. International winners include Barack Obama, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bill Clinton, Michael Caine, Rio Ferdinand and Gordon Ramsay. Last year, GQ India’s winners included John Travolta, Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal and Abhishek Bachchan among others.
The after-party saw the city’s crème de la crème grooving to the pulsating music of DJ duo Kamuki at China House into the wee hours of the morning.
The Men of the Year-anniversary issue hits stands on the 1 October, across India.
Winners:
Cinematic Icon - Shahrukh Khan
GQ Legend - A. R. Rahman
Businessman of the Year - Kumar Mangalam Birla
Woman of the Year - Freida Pinto
Creative Power House - Farhan Akhtar
Chivas Award for Outstanding Achievement - Imran Khan
Sportsman of the Year - Yuvraj Singh
Young Leader - Jyotiraditya Scindia
TV Personality of the year - Karan Thapar
Excellence Award - Anushka Sharma
Designer of the Year - Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna
Most Stylish Man Award - Sidhartha Mallya
Writer of the Year - Tarun Tejpal
Artist of the Year - Jitish Kallat
Excellence Award - Abhinay Deo
Break Through Talent - Prateik
Excellence Award - Bhaichung Bhutia
