Eastern Eye ACTA 2019 award winners announced

 Image Caption – Eaten by Lions Actor Antonio Akeel being interviewed by host Nihal Arthanayake on the red carpet (Image Credit: Eastern Eye).  

    Eastern Eye Arts Culture & Theatre Awards celebrate the best of British Asian talent 

    Big winners include Paul Chowdhry, Naughty Boy, Nitin Ganatra, Shobna Gulati, Mandip Gill to name a few 

    Categories cover excellence in Music, TV, Film, Theatre, Comedy, Literature, Dance, Photography and Visual Arts 

 The fourth Eastern Eye Arts, Culture & Theatre Awards (ACTAs) winners were revealed at the glittering gala awards night at the end of June, in 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’. 

In his welcoming speech, Amit Roy, Editor-at-Large, Eastern Eye and Chairman of the ACTA judging panel said: “I would urge Asian parents to encourage a love of theatre, movies, dance, drama, painting, photography and, above all, books in their children for another reason. It is spiritually nourishing – and will add to the sum total of happiness in Britain.” 

 Nihal Arthanayake said: “The need to support the arts is vital and Asian Media Group is honoured to be saluting the very best artists this evening.” 

Stars who have attended the ACTAs in previous years 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 the first time, the ACTAs were live-streamed. Visit http://www.actas.co.uk/Live.php to watch.