MUMBAI: The inaugural edition of the Global Indian Music Awards (GIMA) kicks off tonight in Mumbai. Instituted with the help of the Indian Music Industry, with nominations from the various  Music Labels of the country, judged by an expert Advisory Committee of music industry  professionals and artists and thereafter the entire 200-member GIMA Academy, these awards are indeed the Indian Music Industry's first, and tonight, 21 awards across various categories (see categories and nominees here) will be presented to winners who were decided through a process monitored, reviewed and validated by E&Y.

The high point of the glittering awards function to be hosted by Sajid Khan, Shreyas Talpade and Dia Mirza at Yash Raj Films Studio in Andheri West will undoubtedly  be when Indian Nightingale Lata Mangeshkar receives GIMA's first Lifetime Achievement Award for her remarkable and unmatched achievements in the field of music, and for having been a guiding light for generations of aspiring singers with her brilliance and passion for music.

The awards evening will be attended by some of the biggest names of the Indian music industry, including the Awards Goodwill Ambassador Asha Bhosle, Sunidhi Chauhan, Shaan, Shankar Mahadevan, Ustad Rashid Khan, Pt. Vishva Mohan Bhatt, Salim-Suleiman and  Shreya Ghoshal, among many others.

An initiative of Wizcraft International Entertainment, Chevrolet GIMA has been instituted with the support of IMI, T-Series, MCAI and other key constituents of the music industry. In fact, the GIMA Advisory Board and Jury is a veritable Who's Who of the Indian Music Industry, and features, in alphabetical order:  Apurv Nagpal, Atul Churamani, Bhushan Kumar, D L Subramaniam, Hariharan, Karan Johar, Kumar Taurani, Leslie Lewis, Mukesh Bhatt, Narendra Kusnur, P A Deepak, Prasoon Joshi, Pritam Chakraborty, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, Rabbi Shergill, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Resul Pookutty, Roop Kumar Rathod, Shankar Mahadevan, Shashi Vyas, Shekhar Ravjiani, Sulaiman Merchant, Sunil Lulla, Talat Aziz, Usha Uthup, Vijay Kumar and IMI President Vijay Lazarus.

The GIMAs represent a platform to celebrate the  best from the Indian music industry,... says Sabbas Joseph, Co-founder & Director – Wizcraft. The aspiration is global, and the support of both, the music labels and the creative members' associations  along with the IMI represents the Indian music industry coming together for the first time on a unified platform....

Three important bodies – the music directors', singers', and lyricists' associations – are supporting GIMA.

Joseph says, The awards embrace classical music, devotional music, semi-classical, non-film, film technical and film popular categories of music. This is probably the most complete representation of film and non-film music in India....

The awards function promises an impressive line-up of performers, which includes Saif Ali Khan, who is likely to pair up with musician Pritam. Saif, in a new avatar of â€?Rockstar', will pull strings to the tunes of R D Burman, paying tribute to one of the greatest Indian musicians. He will also perform the popular number from Love AajKal,  â€?Ye Dooriyaan.'

Wizcraft, which conceived of the awards, has achieved a coup of sorts, matched elsewhere only by the National Anthem film which runs at the Adlabs cinemas nationwide: the entertainment company has got both of India's musical sisters, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle  associated with the first edition of GIMA. Asha Bhosle was recently announced as Goodwill Ambassador for the awards, whilst sister Lataji will receive the first Lifetime Achievement Award.

As is well known, in a career spanning six and a half decades, Lata Mangeshkar has won several prestigious awards and honours including the Padma Bhushan (1969), Padma Vibhushan (1999) and Dada Saheb Phalke Award (1989), among several others. She is the second vocalist ever to have received the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. Mangeshkar was also featured in the Guinness Book of World Records from 1974 to 1991 for having made the most recordings in the world.

Chevrolet is the presenting sponsor of the Global Indian Music Awards, which are powered by Micromax.