The Ajivasan hall was filled with the classical ambience of Indian arts. The function began with students singing a welcome song and then Hema Malini was conferred with the prestigious Uttam Vaggayekar Jialal Vasant Award for the year 2008 for her contribution to performing arts.
Suresh Wadkar, Prem Vasant (Wadkar’s sister), Taufiq Qureshi, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Kripa Shankar Singh and Hema Malini graced the opening ceremony of the function. Shinde spoke highly about Hema Malini and her contributions to art apart from her Bollywood career. Shinde also bestowed the honour upon her. Hema Malini added a note by mentioning “I am glad to receive this award at time when the Woman’s Day is just around the corner. It gives me pride to represent womanhood at such a spectacular occasion”. She was awarded an amount of Rs. 1,00,000 and a 1 1/4 kg silver brick with the inscriptions of eight Hindu shlokas.
At the awards ceremony, ace danseuse Hema Malini dressed in a bright red saree, made a dancing tribute to Lord Shiva and had another recital depicting the story of Lord Narsimha. Renowned percussionist Taufiq Qureshi also rocked the audiences with a high-octane performance at the evening. The event was attended by Who’s Who of singing world like Sonu Nigam with wife, Talat Aziz with wife and Rahul Vaidya. The event was organised by Eventura Global Entertainment.
Fresh from her honours in Mumbai, Hema Malini also found time to perform on the final day of the Gwalior Heritage Festival. Malini and her daughter Ahana enthralled audiences at the 19th century Moti Mahal palace as the Dream Girl’s daughter started with an Odissi recital of Ganesh Stuti followed by Hema Malini’s performance.
