In Pictures: Celebrities at 61st Filmfare Awards South

The 61^st Idea Filmfare awards (south) ceremony was a star-studded event with celebrities from different film industries gathering under one roof at the Nehru Stadium in Chennai.

It was an evening of grand celebration for the winners of the 61^st Filmfare awards. The awards ceremony, held on 12 July, was hosted by the newly-weds Chinmayi and Rahul Ravindran. The event boasted of the veterans and upcoming stars of the south film industry.

Kamal Haasan, Rekha, Jayabharathi, Mahesh Babu, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Shruti Haasan, Nazriya Nazim, Nayantara, Nivin Pauly, singer Vijay Yesudas, Kushboo, Tamannaah, Arjun, Aishwarya, Dhanush, Karthik, his son Gautham, Nithya Menen, Isha Talwar, Trivikram Srinivas Dharani, Rajeev Menon, Adharva, Lakshmi Manchu, Vedhika, Dhansika, Arya, Pooja, Parthepan, Sunaina and Sunil were among others who were present for the occasion.

"Manam" star Samantha was spotted sitting next to Mahesh Babu during the awards ceremony. It may be recalled that the Samantha's comments about Mahesh's "1 Nenokkadine" poster sparked some controversy on the Internet a few months ago. The actress received flak for her comments from Mahesh's fans. But it looks that all is well between the "Dookudu" stars. They appeared to have patched up and were seen talking and laughing together during the awards night.

Actors Shruti Haasan and Taapsee Pannu kept the audiences hooked with their scintillating and sizzling performances. Shruti danced to the tunes of popular songs from her Tamil and Telugu films. While she chose songs like "Dappa Dappa", "Why this Kolavari Di", "Pilla Nuvuu Leni Jeevitham" and "Cinimaa Chupista Mama," Tapsee's songs were "Anjana Anjana" from "Vandhan Vendran", "Yathe Yathe" from "Adukalam", "En Fuse Pochu" from "Arrambam" and a few Telugu numbers, according to a press statement from filmfare. Other stars who performed at the awards ceremony are Rima Kallingal, Asha Sharath, Sanchita Shetty, Parul Yadav and Shruti Hariharan.

Mahesh Babu won the best actor award for his performance in Telugu film "Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu," while Tamil actor Adharva won the award for "Paradesi." Malayalam actor Fahad Faasil won the same for "North 24 Katham" and Kannada actor Prem for "Charminar."

Dhanush bagged the best actor (critics award) for "Mariyaan," while Malayalam actor Prithviraj won it for "Celluloid."

Nivin Pauly and Gautham Karthik were chosen as the best debut actors for "Neram" and "Kadal" respectively.

To check the complete list of winners at the Filmfare awards, click HERE.

The grand event will soon be telecast on Vijay TV (Tamil), Maa (Telugu) , Asianet (Malayalam) and Suvarna (Kannada).