Bollywoos the black lady

At the 54th Idea Filmfare Awards, the night was forever young at Yash Raj Studios — even at 1.30 am yesterday when the dance floor pulsated with the energetic feet of GenNext’s stars , Ayush Khedekar, Tanmay Chheda, Azharuddin Mohammed, Ashutosh Lobo, Rubina Khan and Tanvi Ganesh. Recognise them?

The Slumdog kids of Mumbai, new to Bollywood, but world-weary already after their trip to Hollywood for the Oscars. All smiles and bubbling with enthusiasm, they had superstar Shah Rukh Khan earlier describing them as the fresh and new talents of Bollywood’s future”. The Bollywood Badshah generously included emcees Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan, who replaced Karan Johar and himself at the glittering function, in his felicitation of the Slumdog Millionaire team and said pointing at the duo, “They are the future, we must nurture them.”

You could see that onscreen rivalry was replaced for Bollywood bonhomie at the 54th Idea Filmfare Awards. Ranbir and Imran, with a wicked sense of humour, ran through the audience like liquid fire, poking fun here, making a jibe there, pulling a leg, raising laughs all the time. When they hit the ‘gay’ note, Dostana filmmaker Karan Johan joined in, with the stunning Deepika Padukone and Konkana Sen Sharma adding the glam bit to the onstage compereing. But it wasn’t only about fun. There were feel-good themes and moments — the need of the recession-hit hour. Hope was the underlining theme and underdogs really stole the show.

Hrithik Roshan and the most deserving Priyanka Chopra bagged the Best Actor and Best Actress award respectively, and Jodhaa Akbar was declared the Best Film, but small budgeted films like Mumbai Meri Jaan (Best Film for Critics Award and Best Screenplay), Oye Lucky Lucky and Rock On also made the grade and took away several honours. Then there was Oscar winner and veteran costume designer Bhanu Athaiya going up at 82 with much grace to collect the Lifetime Achievement Award. “It’s better late than never,” she smiled adding, “costume designers were never taken that seriously in Bollywood even after we got the Oscar home. But young designers are changing that.” The Lifetime Achievement Award was also given to Om Puri by Amitabh Bachchan. And Puri, on a emotional note, recalled his days as “scrawny, long-haired, funny-looking fellow” who dared to dream.

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The nail-biting moments onstage were challenged by scenes offstage that couldn’t be caught by the camera or emcees. Like the Bachchan clan walking in majestically and heading for the front row where already was sitting Bollywood’s grande dame Rekha! And Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan discreetly going backstage when Shahid Kapoor stepped out front to dance; then, sneaking out when he returned to his seat after the performance. Also, the audience thinking Kangana Ranaut in her Best Supporting Actress speech meant boyfriend Adhdhyan when she mentioned “someone special”... only to find the hot actress was describing her sister Rangoli!
Performance wise, Abhishek Bachchan, the lovely Katrina Kaif, newcomer Jackie Bhagnani and Shahid Kapoor set the stage on fire. Bipasha, Rekha and Katrina complimented Shahid. “You rock,” Bips told him. And Rekha added, “You’ll come to collect your Best Actor Award in ten months’ time.” The entire audience put in a performance for double Oscar winner A R Rahman by giving him a standing ovation: he won the Filmfare Award for Best Background Score. Anil Kapoor missed the event but daughter Sonam made up as she came, gave an award and quietly left.

Shah Rukh Khan summed up the feeling of the moment at the 54th Idea Filmfare Awards when he said, “Om Puri recalled his struggling days, and I remember my days when I was also scrawny, long-haired and funny-looking ... but we dared to dream and we made it. So there’s hope for everyone who dreams.”