Dubai: Famous Sandalwood actress, theatre artiste Girija Lokesh was conferred with the prestigious Dhwani Sriranga International award at a glittering event witnessed by hundreds of Kannadigas at Emirates Theatre, Dubai on January 19.
The award is being presented by Dhwani Pratishtana UAE.
Chairman of Merit Freight Shipping Joseph Mathias, Director of ACME Building Materials Harish Sherigar, MD of Spraytek Ramachandra Hegde, Padmaraj Yekkar, Founder of Dhwani Pratishtana Prakash Payyar along with awardees Girija Lokesh and Ganesh Rai lit the traditional lamp and inaugurated the programme.
Famous art director Ganesh Rai was honoured with Dhwani Puraskara International award on the occasion by the dignitaries at the event.
After receiving the honour, Girija Lokesh expressed her happiness for choosing her for prestigious award and thanked the team of Dhwani Pratishtana. She said, “Kannada is losing it’s value in Karnataka by its own people but NRI Kannadigas who come to other countries for their livelihood are taking Kannada to new global heights.” She wished everyone a great success and requested to be a true Kannadiga.
Ganesh Rai recalled his connection with Dhwani Pratishtana and Founder Prakash Payyar. He said that Prakash was a true soldier of Kannada and he had inspired many to work for Kannada. He thanked Dhwani Pratishtana for the honour and his family for its never ending support for his social activities.
As a part of the celebration, “Swapna Vasavadatte”, a drama was presented by local artistes. The drama written in Sanskrit by Maha Kavi Basa has been translated to Kannada by Prof. Keertinath Kurtukooti and directed by one of the renowned Kannada stage directors, Prakash Rao Payyar.
Cast included Vidhushi Swapna Kiran, Prabhakar Kamath, Arati Adiga, Vasu Bayar, Shweta Sharma, Janet Sequeira, Ashok Anchan, Santosh Poojary, Gururaj Puttur, Shobita Premjit, Satish Hegde, Sandhya Ravi, Nagabushan Kashyap, Jesh Bayar, Jayant Shetty, Vinayak Hegde, Sandeep Devadiga, Deepa Maria, Padmaraj Yekkar and others Arun Manipal, Udaya Nanjappa, Sai Mallika, Ashok Bailur and others in backstage support.
The drama lovers of UAE enjoyed the epic presentation by the artistes. Colorful light effects and costumes also added support for the success of drama. Light effects and sounds were provided by UAE’s leading event management company Broadway Events Abu Dhabi.
