A.R. Rahman's band debuts, performs at GiMA

Music maestro A. R. Rahman's band NAFS gave its maiden performance here at the fifth edition of Gionee Star Global Indian Music Awards (GiMA).

The awards ceremony took place Tuesday in the presence of the creme de la creme of the music and film fraternity.

The ceremony, hosted by singer Mika Singh and TV host-actor Manish Paul, featured stellar performances by celebrated musicians and Bollywood stars including Atif Aslam, Arijit Singh, Pritam, Shraddha Kapoor, Benny Dayal, Sonu Nigam, Ankit Tewari and Shankar Mahadevan among others.

Band NAFS, which means 'free will to make your own choice' in Urdu and Arabic, regaled the audience with its tunes.

"It has been my privilege to showcase NAFS at GiMA for the first time ever," Rahman, who also won awards for Best Film Album for "Highway" and Best Fusion Album in the non-film category for Coke Studio at MTV Season 3, said in a statement.

"For me, to give a platform to the next generation is my mission and this is one of the first initiatives to represent India internationally. The inspiration behind was Stevie Wonder," he added.

Another highlight of the night was a performance by 'The S7- Super 7', an act comprising some of the most talented singers who have had hits in the past year including Armaan Malik, Shadab Faridi, Md Irfan and Hriday Gattani.

"It has been an absolute honour to bring together some of the world's finest musicians on a platform like GiMA. We've had the privilege of seeing greats like Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Pandit Jasraj, Usaat Zakir Hussain and A.R. Rahman on the same stage today," said Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

The Lifetime Achievement Award -- Classical went to Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia, presented to him by classical legend Pandit Jasraj.

The Global Musician Award was bestowed upon music legend Ustad Zakir Hussain. Daler Mehndi took home the Wizcraft Honour for Best Live Performer and a Special Award for Best Music Initiative was awarded to the Red Bull Tour Bus.

"Queen" and "Ek Villain" tied with three awards each leading the film category.

Armaan Malik won awards for Best Music Debut in both the Film as well as Non-Film category. Shankar Mahadevan won his first award ever for Devotional music.

The 5th Gionee Star Global Indian Music Awards, powered by Hungama.com and Kelloggs Chocos, will be telecast on Star Plus on March 15.