The awards season for Hindi films usually starts off in the New Year. But viewers of India's no.1 news channel have had their say at the end of the old year and their voice is loud and clear: "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" is the best film of the year 2008.

The year end Movie Masala awards which bases its honours exclusively on the votes of the viewers of Aaj Tak, India's no.1 news channel, have also declared Anushka Sharma as the debutante of the year and acknowledged Aditya Chopra's return behind the camera as the best directorial turn of the year.

Clearly, the sensitivity and humour with which the film depicted the initial moments in the life of a newly married couple has struck a chord with Indian viewers.

Aditya Chopra's delicate direction has not gone unnoticed and Anushka Sharma's richly textured performance has surprised viewers with its maturity, especially as this was her first acting performance of any kind in any medium.

Asked to comment on her win by Aaj Tak, Anushka was humility personified. "It is honour enough to work with Aditya Chopra, Shah Rukh Khan and the entire Yash Raj Films team. To win any kind of recognition on top of that is just icing on the cake.

I hope that my subsequent work will live up to the expectations that viewers have of me after this kind of a stellar launch that Yash Raj Films has given me."

Knowing how much the story of "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" has resonated with the viewers, it should just be a matter of time before other awards start pouring in.

2008 ended with a bang for Yash Raj Films. Now it's the turn of the batch of 2009 films from YRF, starting with the unusual tale of "New York" to weave their magic with the viewers.