South Indian stars Rana Daggubati, Nani and Raai Laxmi, among others, on Monday flagged off the second edition of IIFA Utsavam on Monday here.
The two-day event, backed by Fortune Sunflower Oil, celebrates and honours talent across the four southern film industries — Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
"It's a great platform for all the four industries to come together," actor Pragya Jaiswal told reporters.
"Baahubali" fame Rana Daggubati, who will be hosting the Tamil and Telugu section of the award ceremonies, said he is excited to take up emceeing.
Veteran Tamil actor said award ceremonies are special moments in every artiste's life.
"No matter how much we earn, awards always make us feel special. They make some moments very special," he said.
Other popular stars who were present at the event included Shanvi Shrivastav, Rachita Ram, Kunchacko Boban, Ritika Singh and Akshara Haasan.