Delightful interludes that soared the Star Screen Awards energy,entertainment quotient White stars shining on a blue screen faded in the backdrop as a giant prop,designed like a star,descended on to the stage. Seated like a queen on a slanting sofa fixed onto the prop,Bipasha Basu walked down,in a shimmering,sequined one-shoulder dress. The song Aao huzoor tumko sitaron mein le chaloon played alongside. Befitting lyrics,matching imagery lent a perfect start to a star-studded event,the Karbonn Mobiles 17th Annual Star Screen Awards. As much as the Star Screen Awards celebrates the best of talent in Hindi cinema,giving out awards to the best performers of the year gone by,the ceremony is punctuated with dance performances and entertaining acts,like a typical Bollywood screenplay that is interspersed with song-and-dance sequences. The 17th Annual Star Screen Awards had several such entertaining acts. After Bipasha set the ball rolling with her renditions of Pee Loon and Tum Jo Aaye Zindagi Mein (the two hit numbers from Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai),Shahid Kapoor took centrestage as Chitti,the robot from Enidhran,as he arrived wearing a helmet and a steel-coloured uniform. After dancing robot-style,he broke into spoofs over the most-talked about roles of the past year,imitating Salman Chulbul Pandey Khans gait in Dabangg,and Shah Rukh Khans Asperger-affected speech in My Name Is Khan. Once the Marathi cinema awards and technical awards for Hindi films were given away,Katrina Kaifs sizzling performance to Sheila Ki Jawani heralded the excitement that was yet to follow with awards in the more popular categories,such as music and acting,ahead. Wearing a pink choli,Kaif grooved,showing off some very delightful belly dancing moves. Following the music awards,Shahid Kapoor returned not as a spoof on some other actors character in a film but very much as himself,with his characteristic peppy and energetic moves,as he danced to hits from films such as Badmash Company,Kaminey,Chance Pe Dance and Jab We Met. Priyanka Chopra forayed on to the stage,wearing a red choli and shimmering white harem pants,and gracefully performed to a soulful number which she said was a tribute to womanhood. Her performance was soon to be followed by a laugh riot,presented by the every-witty mentor SRK and his acolyte,Shahid Kapoor. SRK pulled Shahids leg over his relationship with Priyanka,and the flop films hes done,only to be given witty answers in return. The duo,even as they light-heartedly debated over the younger generation actors attitude,paid tribute to four yesteryear actresses Asha Parekh,Hema Malini,Zeenat Aman and Rekha. As Parekh,who wore a simple green sari,was called on stage,Khan got Kapoor to imitate the veteran actress,by getting a sari draped around him and a bouffant placed on his head. The duo then tried to do a Chura Liya Hai with Zeenat Aman,by placing guitars around themselves. Hema Malini came on to the stage in a hand cart,with Dream Girl playing in the background. Khan recalled the day Malini called him for a film that was his first such phone call and said that he had an aristocratic face. Finally,Rekha rendered some Umrao Jaan dialogues,even as SRK and Shahid tried their best to serenade the still-18-looking actress. Aishwarya Rais was the last performance of the evening. The actress moved to Tera Zikr,Nimbuda and Dola Re,with two large drums and several flickering candles in the background. Her energy-filled act generated a high that the audience carried back with them since the evening came to an end soon after.
