Funky Daju and Ram Krishna Dhakal won big at The Hero 20th Hits FM Music Awards held at the premises of Army Officer’s Club in the Capital on Saturday sharing four of the major titles between them. Funky Daju won the awards for Best Performance by Group or Duo with Vocal and Best Pop/Rock Composition while Ram Krishna Dhakal bagged Record of the year and Best Male Vocal Performance.

The annual award show felicitated a total of 17 artists under a variety of categories including the Lifetime Achievement Award.

At the show, musical duo April Rush was awarded Best New Artist while Almoda Rana Upreti and Nicky Karki won Best Male Pop Vocal Performance and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.

The award for the Best Song Originally Recorded for a Motion Picture Soundtrack was presented to Arjun Pokharel for the song Ma Yesto Geet Gaunchu.

Veteran lyricist Rajendra Thapa was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to Nepali music industry.

After receiving the honour, Thapa said, “I am privileged to win this

honour from the Hits Fm. My journey in the music industry has been full of ups and downs. I would like to thank all the musicians and artists I have worked with throughout my journey. This would not have been possible without them.”

Likewise, Sujata Upadhaya Manandhar and Udit Narayan Jha bagged the award for Best Vocal Collaboration. The award for the Best Female Vocal Performance was presented to Rajina Rimal, while Maharaj Thapa was awarded with the Best Arrangement award for the song Sansar Mayama Adhcha Bhane.

The awards for the Folk Record of the Year were given to Anjaan Babu for Guransai Phoole Ho. Ma Hurima Diyo Jaleko Dekhchu by Ramesh B.G was awarded Best Song while Abhiwaadan by Adrian Pradhan bagged Album of the Year.

The award ceremony also paid tribute to the late composer Amber Gurung with a performance by the Moktan Family. Also performing at the event were singers and acts like Rajesh Payal Rai, Shiva Pariyar, Pramod Kharel, Shreya Shotag, Nattu and the SOS Band, Kathmandu Cats and the Dirty Boogie Brass Band.

The nominations for the awards were announced in November 2016, where songs and albums released between Baisakh 2072 to Chaitra 2072 were taken into consideration.

This year’s show was hosted by Arjun Ghimire.

Hits FM Music Awards has been honouring musicians and artists for their contribution to Nepali music since its inception back in 1997.