By Rahul Mehra
Surat, the ‘city of dreams,’ has emerged as a microcosm of modern India in the last two and a half decades, with an overwhelming majority of migrants. While the migrants are attracted towards Surat to earn a living, there is one migrant who got inspired by the city and its people to bring about a difference in society. Meet Piyuus Jaiswal, 34, who was associated with the event management industry and has now become a face to reckon with among the who’s who of the Bollywood and entertainment industry, social organizations, philanthropists, and arts and culture with his renowned Iconic Gold Awards and his extensive work in the field of women empowerment.
Jaiswal left Bihar and settled in Surat in 2014, inspired by the desire to make a difference in society. Jaiswal, who worked in the event management industry, drew the attention of many in the diamond city when he created the first Lord Ganesha idol of Gujarat during the Ganesha Visarjan festival in 2016. The chocolate Ganesha was then immersed in approximately 1,000 litres of milk brought from SUMUL dairy on the immersion day. The chocolate-milk mixture was distributed as ‘prasad’ in slum settlements and to devotees throughout Surat.
After being blessed by Lord Ganesha, there was no turning back for Jaiswal after 2016. His close connections in the entertainment industry opened up new opportunities for him. The majority of Bollywood stars who visited Surat for one or more events did so because of Jaiswal’s industry connections.
Jaiswal was more inclined towards women’s empowerment and upliftment. It was for this reason that Jaiswal was the first to organize the ‘Indian Achievers’ Award’. He invited about 15 women celebrities and known faces of Bollywood, including actress Malaika Arora, Ahana Kumra, Aditi Gowatrikar, Sakshi Mago, etc., to Surat. They were given away with the Achievers award in 2018.
“I wanted to do something for the married women. My first initiative was the ‘Galaxy Queen’ beauty pageant, where housewives were given training and groomed to walk the ramp and showcase their talent. Some of our winners have gone to participate in the national and international pageants. I was overwhelmed when a 70-year-old woman walked the ramp,” said Jaiswal.
During the same year, Jaiswal organized the first beauty and fashion pageant, ‘Galaxy Queen India,’ to promote married women from Surat and Gujarat. The wife of former DGP of Gujarat, Renuka Sidhu, and two elderly NRIs participated in the pageant. The women lost about 15-20 kilogram weight during the two-month-long grooming session.
Jaiswal is also credited for making about ten music videos featuring fresh faces from Surat and South Gujarat. Heena Vardhe was featured in one of his music videos, and that she is working in television serials. An aspiring actor from Navsari, Mital Mistry, was featured in another music video, and that he has bagged roles in Bollywood movies.
His music video ‘Mora Piya Hai Padhare’ had cast 87 new faces, and that it was shot on the Rs 2.5 crore set in Surat. Zee Music released the music video in the presence of top Bollywood singers and music directors in Mumbai’s Taj Hotel.
The turning point in Jaiswal’s career came in 2019 when he first organized the ‘Iconic Women Award’ on March 8, 2019, at JW Mariott in Mumbai. It was the last awards night attended by the late well-known choreographer Saroj Khan. About 25 women personalities from Bollywood, entertainment, social organization, etc., were felicitated and given away with the awards.
Talking about his vision, Piyuus Jaiswal, CEO of Iconic Gold Award, said, “Iconic Awards has become a brand to reckon with. We have successfully conducted two awards seasons and are preparing for the third season in 2022. Many actors and actresses, and people from different walks of life have done exemplary work but are not recognized anywhere. We go by the public nominations on social media to choose the deserving awardees. For this, we carry out rigorous research of every awardee on their achievements.”
This year, the Iconic Gold Award-2021 was held at Hotel Sahara Star in Mumbai on September 25. The event was graced by the who’s who of the Tinsel Town. The awardees from various fields of works were felicitated with the Iconic Gold Award.
Many popular faces from the Television and Entertainment industry attended the awards night. Hina Khan, Shaheer Sheikh, Erika Fernandes, Surbhi Chandna, singer Asees Kaur, Shivangi Koshi, and many more B-town celebs were present at this grand event, and many of them took home the prestigious golden trophy.
During the coronavirus infused lockdown, Jaiswal helped many celebrities in Mumbai with the medical supplies, hospitalization, etc. He (Jaiswal) was the first to make a music video, ‘Prarthana’, where about 30 personalities from Bollywood and other fields participated in making the motivational video during Covid-19. He (Jaiswal) also organized a virtual reality show during Covid-19. About 18,000 applications were received from across the country, and the participants were asked to send their 30-second video of their talent. The entire virtual show was organized professionally.
Now, Jaiswal has started the preparations for organizing the third season of the Iconic Gold Awards in Mumbai. Like every year, the awards function will be scheduled between February-March 2022 during International Women Day.
Jaiswal said, “We are going by the public nominations of the celebrities. We are getting more than 10 lakh comments from the public on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Last year, our hashtag had 1.30 million comments.”
