DesiDabba - Boss, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye

Yesterday could be easily considered one of the busiest nights for many television fans. And I being no different was expecting it to be an eventful one. So I had planned my entire day to the perfection T – wake up by 9ish and give doggies a bath, then clean myself followed by eating a thali shaped aloo paratha with fresh curd (nimbu aachar is a must) while watching an old Dharmendra flick. Yes, people I am Punjabi to the core.

Afternoon went according to the plan as well; worked on the both my blogs till 5.00 pm and then was off to PVR to catch the 5.30 show of the recently released Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd and that’s when things started to go the other way.

Surely most of you must have heard about the power cuts we faced in Mumbai city last evening, so all the movie shows were canceled. Dejected and pissed off, we were left with no choice and stood in line for nearly 45 minutes to claim our refund. But guess what, as we touched the counter the currents were back and so was the action. Though I was hesitant but you know how it is when you go out with a bunch of loony friends, we settled for an 8.15pm show of Ghost Rider – which meant that I would not only miss most of the Filmfare awards coverage but also the entire show of Koffee with Karan that too featuring Mallika Sherawat and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Needless to say, Ghost Rider turned out to be just another average American film and what the heck is wrong with Nicolas Cage? His face looked as if it had been sucked out of all the fat tissues and his Elvis fixation is kind-da getting annoying now. After the depressing two hours ordeal, I managed to get home by 10.30 and thanks to my lucky stars just in time to watch one of my most favorite actresses, Sridevi perform at the Bollywood awards ceremony.

Sridevi performing at the 52nd Fair One Filmfare Awards 2006

Now no matter what people may garb about her, I think she totally rocked. Inspite of her absence from the Bollywood stage and old age (I think she is around 45 or so) – she still managed to exhilarate us with her stunning looks, just-right facial expressions and ever-so graceful dance performance. Ever since her performance, there has been a rumor circulating that this move was to mark her comeback in Hindi cinema. Hopefully this ain’t true cause no matter how much I miss her on the big screen; the fact is her time has passed and not to forget the disastrous television stint with Malini Iyer. So I rather live with fond memories of her powerhouse performances in films Chandini, Mr. India, Chaalbaaz, Tohfa, Lamhe and my all time favorite, Sadma.

As for the show and other performances, I thought Rani Mukherjee and Hrithik Roshan did their regular bit, nothing much to brag about. However Rani seems such a misfit when it comes to performing fast-paced dance numbers, she is too slow and looks a bit uncomfortable while performing them. Filmfare’s in-house resident, Shah Rukh Khan tried best to be his cocky self with regular doses of mocking others, brand endorsing, love confession for Kjo and praising thy self. As always he was dressed head-to-toe in designer wear but what in lords name was he thinking by having a white dupatta hung around his neck? I have to admit though it was really gutsy of him to pick on Amar Singh in front of the entire film fraternity by asking him to curb his “darindapan” and not jump on a particular pretty lady. Another individual who performed a daring act was apni Kareena Kapoor, who didn’t shy away from tagging her beau Shahid Kapoor as her life-support; while giving her thank you speech. Also did anyone notice what this woman was wearing, I mean she was dressed in some fancy gown as if it were the Oscars.

Finally talking about the awards itself, well frankly speaking I don’t think highly of most of these awards ceremonies. It’s a known fact in the industry that these awards are booked by the highest bidder or by the influential folks much before the nomination process. Just to maintain some sanity, they have the so called “Critics Awards”. Anyways, just for the sake of writing here are my inputs.

- Hrithik Roshan looked hot to its precise meaning in Dhoom 2 but he so did not deserve the best actor award. Maybe it was just a trade-off for his performance at the awards ceremony.

- Kajol as best actress not a bad choice considering there was no other leading lady worthy enough. Though I think Kareena did a better job in Omkara.

- RDB as best film, thank god they didn’t pick Dhoom 2 or Kank.

- Saif Ali Khan totally deserved his best actor in a negative role award.

- Best lyricist award and best director should have gone to Vishal Bhardawaj for Omkara.

- Kangana Ranaut as best new-comer deserved it.

- The Lifetime Achievement Award – Jaya Bachchan, Yash Chopra and Javed Akhtar. Jaya received the award from none other than husband Amitabh Bachchan. Same old, same old thinking within the box mentality but was glad to see that the audience was decent enough to give them a standing ovation. Plus watching Jaya praising her soon-to-be daughter in-law – how touchy!

Before I end, just one question to ponder on – Filmfare is primarily a Bollywood awards function, meaning they award film personalities who have excelled in their respective roles and also been appreciated by the Hindi films watching masses. Then why on Earth was everything said and done in English?