No Shocks,But Awe for Sure

There were several neutrals,such as veteran actor Dev Anand. He drove down from Mahabaleshwar for the award ceremony at the MMRDA Grounds,Mumbai. “I’m here because I feel it is important to respect young talent,” he said. Saurabh Shukla naturally wanted those nominated for Raat Gayi,Baat Gayi?,which he directed,to win,but insisted that he had no favourites in the other categories since “they’re all my friends”. Javed Jaffrey was diplomatic,saying,“I liked Kaminey for the execution and Paa for the story,but 3 Idiots seems most popular”.

Among the guests were nervous first-timers such as Jesse Randhawa and Abhimanyu Singh,both nominated for Most Promising Newcomer for their roles in the terrific Gulaal. For Singh,it was his first red-carpet event,and said “I’m grateful for the break I got in Gulaal. I haven’t prepared a speech,so if I do win I’m not sure what I will say.” Giselli Monteiro,the Brazilian who debuted in Love Aaj Kal,had never been to an award function either. “My friends and family back home are sitting by the telephone,” she said. Randhawa too didn’t have a speech prepared and added that it was a surprise even to be nominated. Gauhar Khan,another newcomer nominated in the category for her role in Rocket Singh,said she was hopeful that her co-star,Ranbir Kapoor (who she still calls Harpreet,his character in the movie),would win the Best Actor Award. Vidya Malvade,despite not being nominated,was excited to be there since she received her first award for her role in Chak De! India at the 2008 Screen Awards.

Actor Celina Jaitley had seen all five films nominated for Best Film and said,“For me,Paa and 3 Idiots are on par. Among female actors,I think Priyanka Chopra deserves to win for her role in Kaminey.” While several guests,including Chunky Pandey and Neha Dhupia thought Chopra would win Best Actor (Female),Dia Mirza put her money on Kareena Kapoor. The eventual winner was Vidya Balan. In the Best Actor (Male) category,the majority of guests thought it would be Shahid Kapoor for Kaminey; while Abhishek Bachchan was confident that his father Amitabh would win it (he eventually did).

As for the Best Film,Riteish Deshmukh was visibly pleased with the nominations as they reflected the diversity of films made by the industry. Director Anurag Kashyap had a similar view,though he said,“I don’t think Dev.D will win the award for best film purely because of the popularity of 3 Idiots.”

Imtiaz Ali,director of Love Aaj Kal,was similarly playing down his chances; “I’ve got to be realistic. 3 Idiots will win best film and best director trophies,” he said. Amrita Rao was possibly the only one who did not pick 3 Idiots for Best Film. Rao,however,said she couldn’t pick any since all five were varied. Predictably,though,3 Idiots won the Best Film Award.

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