The first ever winners of the India Youth Icon Awards have been announced. The awards recognize outstanding achievement not only in the entertainment field but also in many categories including entrepreneurship, sports, arts, media, social justice, politics and technology. The nominees were decided by a panel, which included Shyam Benegal, Shabana Azmi, Dr. Kiran Bedi, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Leander Paes, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Usha Uthup, and Venugopal Dhoot. Director Shyam Benegal said of the awards, “Icon is a term of veneration. We make our everyday ideals, our heroes who participate in various human endeavours, our Iconic figures. We have tried to nominate people who have already garnered an Iconic status for the youth of our country.”
Priyanka Chopra, was named India Youth Icon award for Entertainment for the female category. She told IANS, “Youth icon is a huge word. So to be a youth icon for this generation, which has very high standards, feels great.” In the male category Entertainment Icon of the year – Hrithik Roshan took home the cool “I” trophy.
Actor Rahul Bose was recognized for his incredible work he has done through his charity organization, The Foundation. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan was named Global Face of the Year and another of Bollywood’s beauties Deepika Padukone was named the Fashion Icon of the Year.
In the other categories the winners were: India Youth Icon for the Arts: Chetan Bhagat Author, India Youth Icon in Entrepreneurship: Ajay Bijli, Chairman & Managing Director, PVR Cinemas Ltd.,India Youth Icon for Sports: Abhinav Bindra – Shooting,India Youth Icon for Media: Barkha Dutt, Group Editor, English News Channel NDTV,India Youth Icon for Politics: Omar Abdullah, India Youth Icon for Technology: Sachin Bhatia, Founder & CEO, Makemytrip.com and the biggest award of the night went to India Youth Icon of the Year: Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary.
During the dazzling event Deepika walked the ramp for a fashion show with clothes by Manish Malhotra and Dia Mizra as well as Mohit Chuan performed. In attendance were a bevy of stars including: Shabana Azmi, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone,, Rahul Bose, R. Madhavan, Irrfan Khan, Madhur Bhandarkar and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International who along with Videocon sponsored the event said, “We believe that the Youth will take us forward into the next century. It is essential that their Icons be those with determination, courage and aspiration. Instituting the Videocon India Youth Icon Awards is a step in that direction. It’s an endeavor to identify and honor such commendable Individuals.”
