Hrithik, Priyanka, Gowariker Win Star-Screen Awards

Home

Friday, 06 February 2009

In a spectacular award ceremony that lasted for three-hours-plus, over 40 awards (five in Marathi) were given away Jan. 14 at MMRDA in Bandra-Kurla Complex at the Nokia 15th Star-Screen Awards ceremony.

The year was special for its mix of big-budget and moderate-budget, different fare and also for the upheavals in the shape of an economic meltdown and Mumbai’s terror attack. So was the award ceremony for some unpredictable happenings on stage. But the fun, lavish performances and largely well-deserved awards made up for this. And the human fireworks that happened on stage between twice-winner Ashutosh Gowariker (whose “Jodhaa Akbar” clinched six awards, the highest along with “Rock On!!”) had the audience and industry sharply polarized.

The Hindi jury was headed by Ramesh Sippy and the Marathi by filmmaker Vijay Kondke, son of the legendary Dada Kondke.

After the inaugural address by Shekhar Gupta, CEO, Indian Express and Uday Shankar, CEO, Star Plus and a brief speech by Priyanka Sinha, editor, Screen, the jury was introduced and the ballot boxes presented to Amol Palekar and Vijay Kondke.

The Marathi segment was rather quickly dispensed with, though the three Marathi jury members including Kondke, actor Neena Kulkarni and classical singer Faiyyaz Shaikh strongly recommended more Marathi categories in view of the boom and technological progress in Marathi cinema.

A quick tribute was also paid to those whom we lost in 2008: B.R. Chopra, Mahendra Kapoor, Begum Para, Jayashree Gadkar, Rajendranath, Jhamu Sugandh, Manorama, Shomu Mukerji, the South’s recording engineer whiz H. Shridhar, Vijay Tendulkar and Jaidev Hattangady.

The show was anchored by Sajid and Farah Khan and in part by Shreyas Talpade, and their light, often irreverent banter irked Ashutosh Gowariker deeply. On stage to receive his first trophy for Best Film (“Jodhaa Akbar”) he hit back at the hosts and reprimanded them severely for cutting short the winners who wished to speak their joys out on the stage.

“I do not like the demeanor of the hosts, which is not of a good standard. If the film industry is ridiculed, it is like ridiculing the award itself. Personal remarks can be made even by me!” stormed Ashutosh as Sajid interrupted with “Go ahead and make them!”

The director pointed out that therein lay the difference between them. Using strong terms like “Sorry, don’t interrupt!” and “Shut up, Sajid!” (he retracted the latter with an apology that itself proved his point) he pointed out that he looked up to the Screen awards and appealed to them to temper their approach.

“Stardom is a very difficult dream,” said Gowariker. “We slog for hours on our scripts and an actor in his work. You cannot make fun of a star.”

While several in the audience looked shell-shocked at his outburst, Gowariker later got the support of a lot of the film industry members including the Hindi and Marathi jury members who went on record to say that not all of the fun was in decent taste. But Farah and Sajid did manage to get their revenge as those with the final command on the microphone, with Sajid going over the top with his riposte, “No one’s father can stop me from doing my work!”

The performances were a mixed lot, Katrina Kaif was unusually dull, and Deepika Padukone completely tepid. Bipasha Basu showed spunk in her medley, as did Anushka Sharma, and Shreyas and Sajid spoofed the “Dostana” act. But the effortless scene-stealers were Priyanka Chopra in her animated medleys from “Fashion” and “Dostana,” and the finale where Arjun Rampal began grooving to the title-track of “Rock On!!” and was either joined by or made others to join. On stage finally were Priyanka Chopra, Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Anushka Sharma, Deepika Padukone and Prachi Desai.

Among the few winners absent, the most prominent name was music and background score winner A.R. Rahman, who was in the U.S.; Akshaye Khanna for Best Performance in Negative Role; Marathi Best Actor Makrand Anaspure; Best Male Playback Singer KK; Best Action director Allan Amin; and Abhishek Bachchan, who could not make it as co-winner with John Abraham for the Star-Screen Jodi No.1 Award for “Dostana.”

Akshay Kumar (Best Actor (Male) - Popular Choice for “Singh Is Kinng”) shocked everyone by relinquishing his trophy in favor of Aamir Khan for “Ghajini” and humbly requesting him to accept it.

Said Akshay, “I am so touched. This little beauty that I am holding has been my dream for 18 years. But as I stand here holding it in one hand and my father’s love in another, this boy from Chandni Chowk cannot accept it because when I compare Aamir Khan’s work in ‘Ghajini,’ I stand nowhere. The best actor this year is Aamir Khan, and his pure dedication to the role was historic. I cannot walk out holding what does not belong to me. I am sure that I haven’t offended all those who voted for me. One day I will win it back with my hard work. Aamir, this one’s for you, mate!”