Field report

One of the stars who had a smile on her face throughout was Deepika Padukone. The beautiful actress was seen enjoying herself whether it was watching the show with the audience or greeting and meeting friends. She was ecstatic when she spotted Farhan Akhtar in the presenters’ room and sported a big grin when she learnt that she had to present Ranbir Kapoor his trophy for best actor!

Catching up

Guess who caught up with each other on the awards night? None other than Rekha and Neetu Kapoor. We spotted the two actresses,who were sitting together,chatting away animatedly. Ranbir Kapoor,who sat beside his mother,had his eyes glued to the stage most of the time,but the few occasions he turned around to say something to Neetu,he saw that she was busy with Rekha. So the young actor would quickly turn back and focus on the stage.

Different wavelength

They walked in together but were poles apart in their demeanour. While producer-director,Vidhu Vinod Chopra came in waving to his friends and chatted animatedly with them,Sharman Joshi,who is currently working in his Ferrari Ki Sawaari,maintained a low profile. The actor looked around and smiled but was quite reticent and kept to himself most of the time.

Staying together

Anurag Kashyap,who came in with his beautiful wife Kalki Koechlin,was seen sauntering around with her for most part of the evening. Initially they stood in one corner,waiting for the team of Shaitan to turn up,and later on they were spotted going backstage to the presenters’ room. They even asked for some munchies and enjoyed the cheese sandwiches,which a member of the Screen team offered them.

Gracious act

Both Rekha and Priyanka Chopra were spotted having a great time as they watched the show together. They cracked up when Madhuri Dixit and Shah Rukh Khan were in a romantic mood on stage. And when Priyanka got up to go backstage for her part,several children,with autograph books in their hands,rushed towards her. This prompted the security guys to swing into action,but Chopra stopped them and patiently gave her autograph to the kids.

Keeping a promise

As always Juhi Chawla was her effervescent self on that night. When asked by a section of the media,why she was there,considering she was neither nominated nor was she a part of any act,she grinned and said,‘Main toh mazze karne aayi hoon’ and also because she had promised the Screen team that she would be there! Juhi warmly hugged and met her friends from the industry especially Sonali Bendre,who she hadn’t met for a long time. She even said that she would attend more award functions in the near future because that’s the only place where she could catch up with her old colleagues.

Busy bee

The pretty and petite Shazahn Padamsee,who came straight from the shoot of Housefull 2,had to run the Mumbai Marathon early the next morning at 5am! However,the actress was quite a sport and soothed her tired nerves in the presenters’ lounge. She was very excited as it was the first time she was attending a Screen award function.

Paying respect

When Neil Nitin Mukesh was walking towards the seating area with his mother,brother and father Nitin Mukesh,Shakti Kapoor,who was already seated,spotted them from afar. The actor stood up immediately and as soon as the Mukesh family entered the seating enclosure,he bent to touch Nitin Mukesh’s feet. On the other hand,Karan Johar was seen heading towards Yash Chopra as soon as the veteran entered,and sought his blessings before greeting anyone else.

New link?

They may not have done any film together,but Karan Johar was quite impressed by the pretty Asin. When the actress was backstage and gearing up to go on stage to present an award,Karan who was also present there,shouted ‘Good luck’ loudly to her,and quickly added ‘Keep looking beautiful’! So will we see the beautiful actress in Karan’s next project?

Dramatic entry

Priyanka Chopra’s act required her to make a dramatic entry on a train from one side of the ground,and that left the guests flabbergasted. While Vidhu Vinod Chopra,who came in with Sharman Joshi, and whose arrival coincided with Priyanka’s entry,looked amused and quickly hopped across to avoid a collision,Vidya Balan’s parents,who were also walking in,stopped in their tracks. They seemed awed by the train and waited for it to move away before heading for their seats.

Roll call

When Sanjay Gupta saw Ekta Kapoor looking stunning in her designer lehenga he could not help complimenting her. The TV czarina,who is usually seen in western outfits,was spotted in traditional wear for the first time. The feisty producer immediately retorted,“Then why don’t you cast me in your film! Anyway you are on the lookout for a heroine,” she teased him,leaving the filmmaker stumped.

For old time’s sake

It was heartening to see Pooja Bhatt go up to Prateik and hug him. The lively actress started telling him about the times she was a young girl and accompanied her dad,(Mahesh Bhatt) on the sets when he was shooting Arth with Prateik’s mother,the late Smita Patil. She told him how involved his mother was in perfecting her part as the psychotic lover. “When I saw Dhobi Ghat,all I could think of was about your mom and how you looked just like her,” she chirped, smiling sweetly at him.

Flying kisses

Shah Rukh Khan,the host of the evening,in one of his acts said that the ‘Kapoors’ were making their presence felt in the film industry and mentioned Ekta and Tusshar Kapoor’s names. This elicited reactions from the brother-sister duo. While Jeetendra’s daughter blushed,brother Tusshar blew flying kisses at King Khan!