Kamal Haasan received the first- ever 'Chevalier Sivaji Ganesan Award for Excellence in Cinema' for his immense contribution to Tamil cinema from veteran actress Saroja Devi, at the mega awards distribution function of Viay TV held in Chennai Saturday.

Kamal said that it was director K Balachandar and Nagesh, who had pushed him to achieve this. Remembering his association with actor- wizard Sivaji Ganesan, Kamal said that he aspired to give away the award to another eligible artiste in the days to come.

Two other awards - 'Superstar of Tomorrow' and 'Youth Icon of the year' were received by Vijay and Vikram respectively.

The other recipients included :

Favorite Film : Devar Magan

Favorite Hero : Ajith

Favorite Heroine : Trisha

All Time Favorite Comedian : Vivek

Choreographer : Prabhu Deva

Director : K S Ravikumar

Stunt : Kannal Kannan

Cinematographer : P C Sree Ram

Art : Sabu Siril

Background Painter : Chinnathambi

Male Playback singer : S P Balasubramanian

Female Playback singer : Janaki

The show witnessed the performance of the hot and ravishing Yana Gupta from Bollywood along with actresses Lakshmi Rai, Priyamani and Ragasiya.