Dr D Y Patil Group in association with Bhamla Foundation on Sunday presented for the first time, the D Y Patil Annual Achiever's Award.
This initiative has been taken to recognize, reward and honour individuals with leadership qualities who have shown exceptional talent in categories extending to various genres from education to business to bravery.
The grand award function that took place at the Taj Lands End was embedded with the eminent personalities such as Shashi Tharoor, Fardeen Khan, Gopinath Munde, Jayant Patil, Harshvardhan Patil, Vasant Davkhare, Sachin Ahire, Aadesh Srivastav, Hariharan, Aditi Govikar, Dhanraj Pillai, Leena Mongre, Chaggan Bhujpal, Subhash Ghai, Sonu Nigam, Baba Siddiqui, Poonam Dhilon, Ramesh Sippy, Arti Kailash Sudernath, Tabassum, Rohit Roy, Dolly Bindra, Raj Thackrey, Jackie Shroff, Rajeev Shukla, Eknath Khadse and Justice Dharmadhikari.
Dr Ajeenkya D Y Patil said, "It has been our privilege to be able to felicitate and pay tribute to individuals who have done India proud and contributed towards the nation's development, thus steering the country on to the path of global appreciation."
Asif Bhamla said at the occasion, "The main aim of the D Y Patil Annual Achiever's Awards for us was to be able to identify and honour people who have the spirit to excel and follow their goal with single-minded passion."
The awardees walked with panache after receiving awards for categories such as entertainment, education, business, sports, bravery, social awareness and lifetime achievement.
The jury members who made the choice of the winner after a careful selection procedure included Shekhar Suman, Atul Kasbekar, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Vijay Khole, Dr B. K. Goyal, Farzana Dhohadwalla, Yasmin Karachiwala, Bharathi Pradhan, Pradeep Guha and Prasoon Joshi.
The occasion began with Sandeep Mahavir's opening performance of the Ganesh Vandana which set the tone for the evening.
Mandira Bedi and Shekhar Suman added their touch and flamboyance to the event as the presenters for the evening.
The audience was kept enraptured by the performance presented by the adorable special children from the Being Human foundation. Salman Khan was acknowledged for Being Human Foundation and encouraged the children performing by joining them on the stage.
The act by Tripura Troupe brought the rustic feel of the splendid country alive with dancers performing with great vigor and dynamism and left everyone spellbound.
Shaan wooed the audience with his majestic voice and charismatic performance.
To add glamour to the evening, Esha Koppikar performed on various Bollywood numbers.
The winners of the first D Y Patil Annual Achiever's Awards are:
Entertainer of the Year – Deepika Padukone
Best Organization in Education – Rayat Sikshan Sanstha
Best Individual Working for Education – Prof. Malshekar
Best Organization in Social Work – Iskcon Food Relief Foundation
Best Individual in Social Work – Prakash Amte
Best Budding Talent – Yuvraj Valmiki
Bravery Award - Adl. CP Vishwas Nagre Patil
Businessman of the Year – Mr. Anirudh Dhoot
Corporate Person of the Year – Mr. D.K. Mehrotra
Visionary of India – Anil Kakodkar
Sportsperson of the Year, Male – Zaheer Khan
Sportsperson of the Year, Female – Tejaswini Sawant
Lifetime Achievement Award – Yash Chopra
