Awards
NEWTON AND MUKTI BHAWAN WIN BIG AT NEWS18 REEL MOVIE AWARDS 2018
Mumbai, 21 March, 2018: News18 REEL Movie Awards, a News18.com marquee property with Reliance Digital as the presenting sponsor, celebrated new age cinema like never before in presence of renowned artists, film-makers and producers at the Taj Lands End in Mumbai, yesterday. Personalities such as Rajkummar Rao, Dia Mirza, Ratna Pathak Shah, Sonali Kulkarni and Richa Chadda among others graced the event with their presence. Jury members Nikhil Advani, Sudhir Mishra and Sujoy Ghosh looked on while the new-age cinema artists received their well-deserved awards.
The awards opened with Prasoon Joshi, ad-man and CBFC Chairman being welcomed on the dais for a riveting conversation reflecting upon his challenges in his current role. The evening then moved towards recognizing excellence in new age cinema and honouring the personalities who gave their best in 2017. Amit V Masurkar took home the first News18 REEL Movie Awards for Best Director for Newton, Irrfan Khan was recognised for his work in the movie Hindi Medium under the Best Actor (Male) category, while a surprised Ratna Pathak Shah accepted the Best Actor (Female) award for her role in Lipstick Under My Burkha.
On accepting the award, Ratna shared, “I am surprised that a 60-year old artist was picked for the award since it was quite the chance that the jury took and I am happy that they did.” The actor dedicated her award to the team of Lipstick Under My Burkha.
The jury presented an award for the Breakthrough Actor to none-other-than Rajkummar Rao. The elated star said, “2017 was a great year for cinema and I hope it continues. I am so happy that the dream I had seen as a young boy sitting in Gurgaon has come true. I want to thank the audience for appreciating such cinema and we will continue to keep bringing excellent content for them.”
Mukti Bhawan won the first News18 REEL Movie Awards for Best Film and director Shubhashish Bhutiani, along with his team accepted the awards and shared, “I stayed in a room with my father in preparation for the film, pretty much taking a journey like the protagonist in a film, in order to make this movie happen. Winning the award is truly an honour and a privilege.”
Meher Vij was awarded the Best Supporting Actor (Female) for the movie Secret Superstar, while Pankaj Tripathi won the award for Newton in the Best Supporting Actor (Male) category.
The awards concluded with a riveting panel discussion on digital content creation, moderated by Network18 Digital CEO Manish Maheshwari, with Sujoy Ghosh, Saurabh Shukla, Sudhir Mishra, Richa Chadha and Dhawal Gusain taking the dais as panelists. The event was live-streamed on Jio TV.
Awards
Ajay Kakar to chair jury for ad:tech Honours Awards 2026
Industry leaders join jury as nominations surge for marketing tech awards
NEW DELHI: The ad:tech Honours Awards 2026 are gearing up for a bigger second edition, with Ajay Kakar, head of corporate branding at Adani Group, set to chair the jury for India’s technology-focused marketing awards.
Organised in partnership with the International Advertising Association India Chapter, the awards celebrate the growing influence of technology in shaping modern advertising and marketing outcomes. This year’s edition has drawn a strong response from across the industry, signalling rising momentum around innovation in marketing technology.
The organisers say the nominations reflect a wide range of ideas and approaches, highlighting how brands and agencies are increasingly leaning on platforms, tools and data to sharpen their campaigns and connect with audiences more effectively.
Leading the evaluation process, Kakar will head a jury made up of senior leaders from across brands, agencies and technology platforms.
The jury panel includes Amaresh Godbole, CEO, digital technology business at Publicis Groupe; Bishwajeet S, head of marketing and PR at Volkswagen India; Carol Goyal, executive director at Rediffusion and CEO of Aesthetic Intelligence Lab; Kushal Sanghvi, director at Komerz; Lara Balsara, executive director at Madison World; Rana Barua, group CEO India, sea and North Asia; Deepak Oram, senior vice president growth marketing and martech; and Priyanka Khaneja Gandhi, head of marketing and creative solutions at Amazon Ads India.
The ad:tech Honours Awards aim to recognise not just creative campaigns but the smart use of technology that delivers measurable impact and business results. Categories this year reflect the rapidly evolving digital landscape, covering areas such as artificial intelligence, data-driven marketing, content ecosystems, automation, martech and adtech integration, and commerce-led marketing.
The winners will be announced on 17 March 2026 at the Yashobhoomi Convention Centre in New Delhi during ad:tech New Delhi 2026. The event is expected to bring together leaders from brands, agencies, platforms, creators and technology partners for an evening celebrating the ideas and innovations shaping the future of marketing.iconductor industries.
