The recent awards night of the prestigious Talentrack Awards 2021 was a starry affair and witnessed the biggest of digital entertainment and OTT stars walking away with the coveted ‘t-trophy’. Established in 2017, the Talentrack Awards recognize and felicitate companies and individuals who have delivered outstanding films, web series, and performances in the digital-content ecosystem.
The Best Actor award in the male category went to the inimitable Manoj Bajpayee for ‘The Family Man 2’, while Arshad Warsi received the Best Actor (Jury) award for his stellar performance in ‘Asur.’ In the Best Actor Female category, the awards were won by the supremely talented Kiara Advani for ‘Guilty’, Sanya Malhotra for ‘Pagglait’, and Masaba Gupta for ‘Masaba Masaba’. The very popular Jitendra Kumar was awarded the Best Actor trophy in the comedy genre for ‘Chaman Bahaar’.
Speaking on the occasion, Kiara Advani said, “This will truly be special. Thank you for all your love and for this wonderful honour.”
Manoj Bajpayee was all praise for his team and said, “I thank my directors and writers for enabling me and giving me the space to experiment and explore. Thank you Talentrack for this award.” Arshad Warsi also shared his happiness, “Thank you Talentrack for honouring me with the Best Actor award in drama/thriller category, and thanks to Voot for choosing me for such a project.”
The star of the smash hit ‘Scam 1992: A Harshad Mehta Story’, Pratik Gandhi, was felicitated with the Digital Content Person of the Year Award. The Best Director recognition was won by Anurag Basu for ‘Ludo’. Other winners included Krishna Bhatt for ‘Twisted 3’, Debbie Rao for ‘Pushpavalli 2’, and Heena Dsouza & Digant Vyas for ‘Mukesh Jasoos’.
Accepting the award for the Best Soundtrack for ‘Ludo’, Bhushan Kumar said, “I want to congratulate Anurag dada, Pritam dada, and all the lyrics writers, and I thank the Jury for this award.” A visibly delighted Anurag Basu expressed, “Thank you Talentrack and all the Jury members who found me worthy of the Best Director award for my film Ludo. Thanks to Netflix, T-Series, and all the members of the team. I cannot wait to physically hold the award in my hand!”
Gaurav Kapur and Ranveer Allahbadia received awards in the Best Podcast category, while Faridoon Shahryar and Mayank Shekhar were adjudged the Best Talk Show Hosts for their shows: Talking Films and Sit with Hitlist, respectively. Cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin was the recipient of the Digital Content Entrepreneur of the Year trophy for his YouTube channel.
The Best Casting Director trophies went to Mukesh Chhabra for ‘Scam 1992: A Harshad Mehta Story’ and Shruti Mahajan for ‘Aashram’. Vir Das was recognized as the Best Stand-up Artist, and Nikhita Gandhi was awarded the Best Singer trophy. The Best Anchor award was given to Rahul Bose for ‘Teacher’s Genuine Stories 2’. Talking about his show, Rahul Bose said, “I am honoured to receive this year’s Talentrack Award for the Best Anchor for my work in Teacher’s Genuine Stories. I am thrilled because this show is very close to my heart.”
Leading content producers including Netflix, Voot, MX Player, BIG Synergy, ALTBalaji, Applause Entertainment, Hoichoi, Monk Entertainment, Magnon Group, Tamada Media, Arré, Pocket Aces, RSVP Movies, Loneranger Productions, and many others bagged some of the most coveted honours.