"Massive…": Director Hemanth M Rao Blasts IIFA Awards Organisers

Kannada filmmaker Hemanth M Rao, who is best known for his 'Sapta Sagaradaache Ello' (Side A and Side B), has slammed the IIFA Awards 2024 organisers.

Entertainment Desk
Written By: Entertainment Desk
Updated: September 30, 2024 | 11:26 IST
Hemanth M Rao
Kannada filmmaker Hemanth M Rao has slammed the IIFA Awards 2024 organisers.

Kannada filmmaker Hemanth M Rao, who is best known for his 'Sapta Sagaradaache Ello' (Side A and Side B), has slammed the IIFA Awards 2024 organisers. In a lengthy Instagram post, the director expressed his frustration, describing the event in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi as a "“massive inconvenience” and “extremely disrespectful”. He said that he sat through the night until 3 AM only to leave without an award. He also criticised the lack of transparency, stating that the event organisers didn’t even bother to announce the nominees before handing out the awards.

“The whole IIFA experience was such a massive inconvenience and extremely disrespectful. I’ve been in this business for over a decade and this wasnt my first stint at award shows. It’s always been a case where the winners are flown in and hosted for the event. For context, I was sat till 3 AM in the morning only to realize there was no award. The same happened to my music director, Charan Raj," he wrote.

"It’s your award. You can give it to whoever you want to. Thats your choice!! I haven’t won MANY awards and haven’t lost sleep over it, so these grapes aren’t sour. If all the other nominees were invited and one winner emerged out of it. I wouldn’t bother getting irritated. Also, the format this year was just to hand out the award. The nominees weren’t even mentioned," he added. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Hemanth (@hemanthrao11)

Speaking further, he said, "Maybe it’s been a while for you and your team to realize it. Your award shows run on the talent that you put on your stage. NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I dont need your award to enjoy the best job in the world. Next time you need me on your stage… and TRUST ME…you will. Take your award and keep it where the sun don’t shine."

However, the director also said that he holds no resentment towards fellow Kannada filmmaker Arun Sudhir, who eventually won the award on the night.

"And if it wasn’t clear, I have no problem with @tharunsudhir winning. My best to him and his entire team. This is about wasting my time and energy," he stated.

As his concluding remarks, Hemanth Rao wrote, "Everything has a silver lining. Mine was to see several of my team members go up on stage and recieve a bunch of awards. It wasnt a complete waste of time. Cheers.”

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