Cool Kalasha Awards

The crème of the film industry got honoured during the annual Kalasha Awards held last weekend at KICC. Pulse brings you the highs and lows of the ceremony   

Has anyone ever told you that you look like Steve Jobs,” Collo thundered.

“No,” responded the dazed guest who had joined Collo on the podium to present an award.

The look-alike joke about the late American co-founder, chairman and CEO of Apple Inc was repugnant and it sent out cold stares from the crowd at the fully packed dome at Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), on that Saturday night during the annual Kalasha Awards.

The cream of the film industry had answered the call. Displaying great fashion sense and style, celebrities and other dignified guests graced the red carpet event and enjoyed the spotlight as they posed for paparazzi and gleefully took interviews.

Gracefully, the stunning ushers lent a hand and smiled before taking the celebrities’ hands to the magnificently decorated tables.

Palpable tension reigned among the various nominees as the moment of truth approached, re-stroking the fledgling rivalries between producers, film directors, casts from different production houses as well as media houses, as is so characteristic during the coveted ceremony.

Unfortunately, there was no unnerving the actors and actresses as the night took off on the wrong footing and theatrics reigned at the back stage.

With their drums rolling, the Kuza Africa Sanaa group set the ceremony off to the delight of the guests. However, the group’s great skills and choreographed artistry was rewarded with bad sound and poor stage lighting. Within no time, the mess was fixed and the ceremony went on smoothly.

A rather jubilant pair of Ahmed Dharwesh and Lydia Manyasi worked hard to charm the crowd.

Ideally, the prolific KTN anchor was to fuse in the Kiswahili touch, which had been incorporated in the golden and white-themed shindig in boosting the production of Kiswahili plays and films as planned by the organisers — a task he performed with diligently to the delight of the crowd.

Moments of joy were coupled with bitterness as winners celebrated around a cursing lot that, in protest, wondered if the results had been ‘cooked’ to favour a certain group. This is to be expected at every event where there are winners and losers.

“Are these awards made for old people? F**k them,” a furious producer cursed as the little known Jam Veil and pioneer KBC TV comedy Vioja Mahakamani show excelled to beat the newcomers.

“This has been long time coming. This is my day,” an overjoyed Hiram Mugai said, accepting the Best Supporting Actor in a TV Drama award. His fellow Vioja Mahakamani cast joined him on the podium, dancing to his victory. They were to grace the podium thrice, marking the night as one of their greatest in their acting history.

Popular TV drama series Lies that Bind thrice triumphed over its competitors in a nail-biting competition, renewing the rivalry between TV shows and their respective media houses.

It was a clean sweep for Lies that Bind as it emerged the Best TV Drama Series, with its lead actress Florence Nduta taking home the Best Lead Actress and Justin Murichii the Best Supporting Actor awards.

Sharing the glory of the night was the hugely successful film Nairobi Half Life. The film’s director and cast graced the podium five times and only lost in one of the six Feature Film categories they had been nominated in.

The other major winner in the Feature Film category was Simiyu Samurai, which took home four awards. The enviable Best Actor and Best Actress in Film went to Joseph Wairimu (Nairobi Half Life) and Rita Dominic (Shattered) respectively.

Three times during the ceremony, the emcees called out the wrong names for given categories as confusion reigned at the backstage, forcing an angry Kenya Film Commission chairman Chris Foot to step in and take charge of the programme.

“I am sorry. This is confusion,” he apologised. “The film industry in Kenya has been on the rise and many Kenyans will derive their livelihood from the industry in years to come,” Foot told the guests as he offered his speech, sentiments that were echoed by the Kenya Film Commission chief executive officer Peter Mutie.

“The Government of Kenya sees film not only as a tool for information and entertainment but also as a powerful communication instrument for national integration,” a speech delivered by Permanent Secretary Bitange Ndemo on behalf of the Minister for Information and Communications read.