Opinion B-Town Wrap

At IIFA again,he had an angry text fight with hosts Ritesh Deshmukh and Boman Irani. Reason? Ashutosh didn’t much care for the spoof they did on ‘Jodhaa Akbar’. Then he did a huge big boo boo when he actually went on stage and questioned Priyanka Chopra on her Best Actress win.

His exact words: “Priyanka,you are a great actress but every time you win an award I ask myself,why not Aishwarya?” Though Priyanka kept her smile intact,her face betrayed the humiliation and anger that she felt. It must have been a body blow to the ‘Fashion’ actress,especially since she is acting in Ashutosh’s next ‘What’s Your Rashee?’ Come on Ashu,if you dish it out,then you gotta take it too!

Babumoshai Once Again: They shared the same stage after 16 years. Blessed were all of us to see Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan standing together in flesh! AB introduced the original superstar who was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award with the words: “When I used to see his craze among his fans I used to wonder if I could ever make it as a hero in this industry.” To this,Khanna gave him a long hug and a peck on his cheek.

In a heartfelt speech that held the audience spellbound,Khanna spoke less about himself and more about his Babumoshai. He must have addressed Bachchan as Babumoshai some 15 times and even went on to say that “Main shukraguzaar hoon Amit ka ki usne mujhe mauaa diya ki main aaj aap sab ke beech mein yahan hoon.” Khanna recited his famous ‘Anand’ dialogue and ended with a couplet that summed up his career trajectory: Yeh mujhe gham nahin zamana badal gaya/ zindagi hai tumse yeh guzaarish,tum badal naa jaana”. That was vintage Kaka!

Storm in a TeaCup: Boman Irani brought the house down with his spoof on Anil Kapoor’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ quizmaster avatar in a segment called,Who wants to be the Slumdog? In the hot seat was his co- presenter Ritesh Deshmukh who was posing as Aamir Khan. Whenever Ritesh would give an appealing answer,Boman would respond in Anil’s Slumdog accent: ‘Fantastic,fabulous,mind blowing,mind blasting chaiwala (the latter in reference to Dev Patel’s character in the Danny Boyle film).

Though Anil smiled at the spoof,it was apparent that he was not amused. Surprisingly,he took it out on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. When Anil came on to the stage to present the Star of the Decade (Female) Award to Ash,he announced her name in the same manner: “Fantastic,fabulous,mind-blowing,mind-blasting¿ my favourite chaiwali.” To this,Ash retorted,”Thank you fantastic,fabulous,mind-blowing chaiwala.” Industry watchers feel the Anil-Ash on stage fracas,though unnecessary,wasn’t really unexpected.

The recent L’Oreal controversy between Sonam and Ash,when the former was unceremoniously dropped last minute from walking the red carpet at Cannes allegedly on Ash’s orders,didn’t go down well with Anil. He wanted to make his displeasure known and he did just that. Round two goes to Ash,we say!

Shiney Jokes: There are all kinds of sick people everywhere and B-Town is no exception. Even as Shiney Ahuja was being taken into judicial custody on allegations of raping his domestic help,sms forwards started doing the rounds. These are some of the Shiney-gate jokes:

Q: What is Shiney Ahuja’s sexual preference?

A: Bai-sexual.

Q: What did the lawyer tell Shiney after he was sent to police remand?

A: Bai! Bai!

Q: What is Shiney Ahuja’s favourite Indi pop song?

A: Maid in India.