The ceremony finished its Day 1 with scintillating performances and the attendance of the some of the biggest names from the cine industries. The most artistic and talented personnel of the industries were rewarded for their excellent work for the year 2015-16.
The event was overwhelmed by the Legends and celebrities of the industries like Chiranjeevi, Vikram, Kushboo, Allu Arjun, Akhil Akkineni, Huma Qureshi, Rana Daggubati, Allu Sirish, Sai Kumar, Ashok Kheny, Sudheer Babu, Shruti Haasan, S. Janki, Kabir Bedi, Samantha and Puneeth Rajkumar
Lakshmi Manchu and Ali Mohammed played the perfect hosts while, performances by Devi Sri Prasad, Pranitha Subhash, Pragya Jaiswal, Rakul Preet Singh, Rachita Ram and Sayyesha Saigal, enthralled the audiences.
SIIMA recognized the noble works of the legendary playback singer of South Sishtla Sreeamamurthy Janaki. The Nightingale of the South Indian Cinemas was given the Life Time Achievement award with special performance by the sensational Usha Uthup, who sang some of her biggest hits as a tribute.
The teaser of the much awaited movie, ‘Iru Mugan’ was launched by Megastar Chiranjeevi, in the presence of Vikram and Nithya Menen.
The list of awards and the winners are as follows:
| CATEGORY | TELUGU | KANNADA |
| Best Supporting Actor (Female) | Ramya Krishna (Baahubali - The Beginning) | Tejaswini Prakash (Goolihatti) |
| Best Supporting Actor (Male) | Rajendra Prasad (Srimanthudu) | Pannaga Bharana (Kendasampige) |
| Best Actor in a Negative Role | Rana Daggubati (Baahubali - The Beginning) | Saikumar (RangiTaranga) |
| Best Comedian | Vennela Kishore (Bhale Bhale Magadivoy) | Chikkanna (Masterpiece) |
| Best Lyricist | Sirivennela Sitarama Shastri (Kanche) | Anup Bhandari Ee Sanje (RangiTaranga) |
| Best Playback Singer (Female) | Satya Yamini Mamatala Talli (Baahubali) | Inchara Rao Kareyole (RangiTaranga) |
| Best Playback Singer (Male) | Sagar Jatha Kalise (Srimanthudu) | Santosh Venky Rajarani (Rhaatee) |
| Best Music Director | DSP (Srimanthudu) | Arjun Janya (Vajrakaya) |
| Best Debutant Female | Pragya Jaiswal (Kanche) | Manvitha Harish (Kendasampige) |
| Best Debutant Male | Akhil Akkineni (Akhil) | Vinay Rajkumar (Siddhartha) |
| Best Debutant Director | Anil Ravipudi (Pataas) | Anup Bhandari (RangiTaranga) |
| Best Actress - Critics | Anushka (Rudramadevi) | Shanvi Srivastava (Masterpiece) |
| Best Actress | Shruti Haasan (Srimanthudu) | Rachita Ram (Ranna) |
| Best Actor - Critics | Allu Arjun (Rudramadevi) | Neenasam Satish (Rocket) |
| Best Actor | Mahesh Babu (Srimanthudu) | Puneeth Rajkumar (Rana Vikrama) |
| Best Director | S.S.Rajamouli (Baahubali) | Upendra (Uppi 2) |
| Best Film | Baahubali | Mythri |
| Most streamed Song of the Year | Rama Rama - DSP (Srimanthudu) | No problem - Arjun Janaya (Vajrakaya ) |
| Youth Icon of South India | Samantha | |
| Best Cinematographer | K.K.Senthil Kumar (Baahubali - The Beginning) | |
| Best Fight Choreographer | Peter Hein (Baahubali - The Beginning) | |
| Best Dance Choreographer | Jani (Temper) | |
| Best Debutant Producer | Vijay Reddy and Sashidev Reddy (Bhale Manchiroju) | |
| Lifetime Achievement Award | S. Janaki |
