Friday 21st June, London – The fourth Eastern Eye Arts, Culture & Theatre Awards (ACTAs) winners have been revealed at tonight’s glittering gala awards night at the May Fair Hotel, London. The evening was hosted by award-winning broadcaster Nihal Arthanayake.
The ACTAs celebrate diverse talent in the arts and entertainment, with categories spanning a wide range of disciplines and showcasing a world of talent. The list of winners for 2019 were another eclectic mix of popular household names and critically acclaimed emerging talents who excel in their respective fields.
Leading the charge of 2019’s winners, the Theatre categories saw some notable triumphs for EastEnders favourite Nitin Ganatra, crowned Best Actor for theatre production ‘End of the Pier’ and Coronation Street actress Shobna Gulati who picked up Best Actress for her role in ‘Richard II’. Acclaimed theatre director Indhu Rubasingham won Best Director for her adaptation of ‘White Teeth’, the best-selling novel by Zadie Smith, whilst ‘Tartuffe’ by the Royal Shakespeare Company picked up the Best Production.
The hotly contested categories for Comedy and Contemporary Music were won by popular comedian Paul Chowdhry and chart-topping producer Naughty Boy respectively whilst the TV and Film acting categories were awarded to Ash Tandon (‘Bodyguard’) and Priyanga Burford (‘Press’).
Star of hit BBC TV show ‘Dr Who’, Mandip Gill won the People’s Choice Award, as voted for by the public, with the Emerging Artist Award going to Antonio Aakeel, star of independent British comedy film ‘Eaten by Lions’.
Amit Roy, Editor-at-Large, Eastern Eye and Chairman of the ACTA judging panel said: “Our winners at this year’s ACTAs are another strong group of talented British Asian artists who have had exceptional success with their respective work in the last 12 months. It is heartening to see the depth of creative talent within the South Asian community and we are delighted to have another list of winners which showcase some of the best of what our community has to offer.
Diversity remains a vital issue in the creative arts and the British Asian artistic fraternity continues to make a huge contribution to the wealth – financial and spiritual – generated by the UK’s creative industries.”
Stars who have attended the ACTAs have included Anita Rani, Meera Syal, Anoushka Shankar, Sacha Dhawan, Dr Ranj Singh, George Alagiah and this year’s event proved another memorable occasion with several stars from screen and stage attending the evening to celebrate the success of well-known stars and emerging talents from the British Asian community.
For more information please visit http://www.actas.co.uk/
ACTA 2019 Finalists
Winners are highlighted As Underlined
Eastern Eye Award for Arts
Eastern Eye Award for Dance
Eastern Eye Award for Literature
Eastern Eye Award for Photography
Eastern Eye Award for Comedy
Eastern Eye Award for Best Presenter
Eastern Eye Award for Best Production
Eastern Eye Award for Best Director
Eastern Eye Award for Best Scriptwriter
Eastern Eye Emerging Artist Award – supported by Arts Council England
Eastern Eye Community Engagement Award
Eastern Eye Award for Traditional Music
Eastern Eye Award for Contemporary Music
Eastern Eye Award for Theatre, Best Actor
Eastern Eye Award for Theatre, Best Actress
Eastern Eye Award for Film, TV & Drama, Best Actor – supported by London Town Group
Eastern Eye Award for Film, TV & Drama, Best Actress
Eastern Eye People’s Choice Award – supported by Media Hive and voted for by the public
Eastern Eye Editor’s Special Award – supported by Eastern Eye
Eastern Eye Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Creative Industry – supported by Edwardian Hotels London
