MUMBAI: Even as the Punjabi film industry is growing at a spectacular rate, the biggest Punjabi Film Awards, from the PTC Network, are poised to grow even bigger. This year, the PTC Punjabi Film Awards will be telecast deferred live in India and all over the world, making it the world's single largest Punjabi Commercial Movies' Awards Extravaganza.

The prestigious PTC Punjabi Film Awards 2013 show will feature some of the best and most popular and entertaining presenters, a solid lineup of entertaining acts and the best of stars from Punjabi films and Bollywood attending the extravaganza scheduled for the 1 March 2013. Top Punjabi GEC PTC Punjabi will air the spectacular awards show deferred live with only a 30-minute delay.

PTC Punjabi, PTC News & PTC Chak De director and CEO Rajiee M Shinde said, “The PTC Punjabi Film Awards are our tribute to the fast growing world of Punjabi films and we are particularly delighted that both, the PTC Network and these awards that we created, not only highlight the popularity of Punjabi cinema, but have also contributed to its strong growth.”

The PTC Punjabi Film Awards started in 2011 and have grown bigger over the years. The Punjabi Film Industry too has kept pace, growing strongly.

Shinde, who has been a driving force behind the conceptualization, iteration and execution of the PTC Punjabi Film Awards added, "Viewers have always loved the Punjabi Film Awards, because of the quality, scale and grandeur of Punjabi and Bollywood star presence, the exciting presentation format and the entertainment acts that they offer. Last year, top star from Bollywood Punjabi cinema, like Dharam Ji (Dharmendra), Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ali Zafar, Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Gulshan Grover, Om Puri, Prem Chopra, Gurdas Maan, Harbhajan Maan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, Goldie Behl, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Malkit Singh, Puneet Issar, as well as the glamorous ladies of Bollywood like Anushka Sharma, Genelia Deshmukh, Aditi Rao, Anita Raj and Jaspinder Narula, attended the spectacular show of  PTC Punjabi Film Awards. We awarded LifeTime Achievement awards to Dheeraj Kumar and Yograj Singh last year and to Raza Murad and Satish Kaul in 2012."

PTC Punjabi, PTC News & PTC Chak De president Rabindra Narayan said, “The PTC Network, with the largest reach in Punjab, will not only take the awards across India, but also across the world to USA, Canada and Australia. In UK, the awards will be recorded and telecast. Viewers will be able to watch the show, making this the single largest Punjabi Commercial Movies' extravaganza worldwide.”

Even as the PTC Punjabi Film Awards have grown over the years, the Punjabi film industry too has seen extremely strong growth.

Shinde said, "According to industry sources, in 2011, only 10 Punjabi films were released. This grew to more than double in 2012, when as many as 24 Punjabi films were released.  And it is expected that as many as 40 Punjabi films are expected to be released in 2013. This is a phenomenal rate of growth, and demonstrates the strong role of regional entertainment, and especially Punjabi films, in fuelling the overall growth of the Media & Entertainment industry in India.”

Not only has the number of released Punjabi films grown, they are also getting better and better in quality. “This can be seen with the impressive lineup of the final shortlist of nominations at the PTC Punjabi Film Awards 2013,” Narayan added. Of the 24 films released in 2012, more than half have received one or more nominations across 22 competition categories and a total of 127 nominees. The PTC Punjabi Film Awards will also felicitate top movie icons with the prestigious PTC Punjabi Film Awards for LifeTime Achievement for their mammoth contributions to the industry.

This stupendous growth is because of the growing popularity of Punjabi films amongst Punjabi and even other, Hindi speaking, audiences.

Significantly, every Punjabi film released is marketed on the PTC Network, across all three channels (GEC, Music, News). In India, PTC Punjabi has exclusive telecast rights to a large majority of the successful Punjabi films released across the last couple of years. No Punjabi film opens in theatres without prior promotion on PTC channels.

Narayan said, “As a network catering to the entertainment- and media needs of millions of viewers across PHCHP and across the globe, we are proud to have made a strong contribution to the growth of Punjabi cinema. Today, Punjabi films are setting the pace in terms of growth and return on investment in the Media & Entertainment industry.”

Shinde concluded, "When we created the PTC Punjabi Film Awards, we had set out to create a benchmark for not just our own industry, but the category of awards, and I am glad that in terms of its scale and sweep, the PTC Punjabi Film Awards' 2013 edition will cover, recognize, reward and serve an industry that is growing phenomenally. We are confident that our viewers will love the latest edition, and the wonderful people who create Punjabi cinema will continue to respect and acknowledge these awards as the pinnacle of professional recognition and achievement."