IARA Awards: Did Vijay really win a prestigious award?

Ardent fans of Vijay were overjoyed this Sunday when IARA announced that Vijay had won the Best Actor International award. With over 24 thousand retweets, the tweet became viral on social media. Celebrities such as Shantanu, Mahendra and the film’s producer Hema Rukmani shared the news on their social media.

Congratulations Vijay Joseph.. Best International Actor. #bestinternationalactor pic.twitter.com/GRqXa9YUJ4

— IARA AWARDS (@IARA_Awards) September 23, 2018

What is the IARA?

According to the official website, it was founded by businesswoman Helen Imuaphe in the year 2014. The website has a statement which says – ”International Achievement Recognition Awards confers, highlight outstanding talents, laudable initiatives and recognise the hard work of those in Theatre, Music, Film/TV and the Fashion industry” (sic).

In an interview, Helen Imuaphe said that there is a procedure to select the winners. She said that she has a team of industry professionals for each category including directors, stage actors, and professional critics which help pick and decide the winner. Apart from that, there is a public voting platform.

What about credibility?

Although I wouldn’t deny the kind of fan-following and star-power Vijay has acquired, it raises a level of curiosity about the award. Especially when the other actors featured, aren’t exactly known to be popular.

Apart from setting trends on social media, the association didn’t seem like it sent out a formal award launch invite to the actor – none of the news media agencies or the press releases confirmed so. Vijay’s nomination in the list may be questionable but his win isn’t. Wondering why? Because Vijay was declared a winner based on the votes by online users. Given the huge army of fans, Vijay has on Twitter, it isn’t a surprise to us.

Previously, Vijay’s film Mersal won the Best Foreign Language Film at the 4th edition of the National Film Awards UK 2018. It was awarded based on the fan votes. However, the credibility or ‘the prestigious’ factor of this award is not certain.

It would be amazing if Vijay wins all the genuine prestigious awards out there, but fans should understand that just because something has an international label on it, doesn’t exactly mean it’s prestigious.