A HERO WITH A HEART
If there was an award for Best Sporting Actor Shah Rukh Khan would win it hands down. Shah Rukh had everyone wah wahing him for his straight-from-the-heart felicitation of the Roshans. Shah Rukh who doesn’t belueve in reading other people’s words, came up with just the right words on stage. As he chronicled the achievements of the talented trio of father, uncle and son, Shah Rukh took a trip down memory lane to recall his own association with the Hrithik which went back by almost a decade. He reminiscesised about the three films—King Uncle, Karan Arjun and Koyla that brought him close to this family and a young boy who would one day evoke the kind of mass hysteria Shah Rukh did after Baazigar and Darr. It was a “feeling” speech and so moved not just the Roshans and Hrithik in particular but also senior colleagues like Shabana and Javed who are not liberal with their praise. “You have a way with words,” complimented wordsmith javed Akhtar. His wife Shabana agreed. “Shah Rukh,” she told him, “you don’t stop to amaze me everytime you are on stage.” That improptu citation was the talk of movie town the next day and for days after and proved that our Badshah was a hero with a heart.

A CHAIR BUT NO CHOPRA
Getting a wheelchair for guest of honour, BR Chopra was like a mission impossible. No hospital was willing to hire one out for even a couple of hours. Going round in circles we finally barged into a just-opened hospital and spotted a chair on wheels and made a grab for it. “You can’t have it,” we were told. “What if there’s an emergency. What will we do then?” No amount of persuasion could make them part with the much-coveted possession. We finally had to buy a second hand wheelchair and as we wheeled it into the sports complex we were given the message that Choprasaab was not coming. The wheelchair stayed in a dark corner all evening...unoccupied.

PINING FOR PAPA
The only Roshan missing that evening was Roshan, the late music director and Rakesh and Rajesh’s much-loved father. “Wish he was there on this great day to see his family in all its glory,” Rakesh said softly, a hint of bitter-sweet regret casting a cloud on a evening which he later insisted had been “just perfect”.

A ROOM WITH A VIEW
With passes for the golden jubilee celebrations of Screen becoming more precious than gold as D-day neared, a few smart guys discovered a way to “see” the awards function without being there. They booked rooms in all the nearby hotels to the sports stadium which offered a view of the most-talked-about-show in town. And stayed by their paid-for windows till late into the night hoping to catch a peek of their heroes.

CATCHING UP BACKSTAGE
Mohan Wagh who was on the Marathi film jury was on tenter hooks all evening. He was waiting for Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar who after being informed that the show had kicked off on time and she would be required on stage at 9 p.m. left her Pedder Road residence. Wagh was at the gate faster than any of the other escorts as soon as he was told that Lataji had arrived. Didi was accompanied by her sister-in-law and niece Rachna and spent some quiet minutes backstage with Madhuri. They made a pretty picture too, one in pristine white and the other in a smashing black-and-gold sari. Madhuri had persuaded Sanjay Bhansali to let her off from the shoot of Devdas so she could read the citation honouring Lata Mangeshkar, the recipient of the newly instituted Noorjehan Award. As always Madhuri was faultless on stage, breathing life to a string of words and exchanging a lot of words with Latadidi backstage in fluent Marathi.

Two other ladies who had a lot to talk about were Rekha and Sridevi. Once the best of buddies, Sri and Re were meeting after a long time and had a lot of catching up to do. We don’t know if they spoke about her new baby or Rekha’s Duggu baby because all the conversation was in rapid-fire Tamil.

Both Rekha and Sridevi looked ravishing. Sri had opted for black-and-red while Rekha was gorgeous in a green antique sari.

WHEN FEARS TURNED TO TEARS
Tabu had cried for hours when she lost the Best Actress Award to Karisma Kapoor who won it for Raja Hindustani. That she won a National Award the same year for Maachis was small consolation. She had vowed never to go through the pain of losing again and was in two minds on the eve of the awards about whether to attend or not. Finally dressed in an exotic ensemble and holding on to mama for support, she walked in fearing the worst. Her fears turned to tears, tears of joy, when Rekha announced her name. Astitva had given her a new identity as a popular award winner.

HAIL THE HERO!
Hrithik was undoubtedly the “hero” of the evening. He made a quiet entry with his wife, waiting for his family to catch up. And by the time he was ready to walk to his seat there was a row of twelve pretty girls dying to escort him in. It took only minutes for the word to spread that Hrithik was here. And a minute for a much-married woman to forget her husband sitting sedately besides him and jump on her chair for a dekko of the nation’s heart-throb. Hrithik of course, accepted all the adulation with dazed disbelief and a blush that never faded.

BABY’S DAY OUT
Resham Seth who was one of the nominees for the Best Actress award for the Marathi film Mrugjal came with her three-month old child. It was obvious that this was Resham’s first outing with her baby who had to be nursed every hour. Obviously, the award meant a lot to the pretty actress because she looked sorely disappointed when Mrinal beat her to it and realising that it would be difficult to keep her baby happy for another two hours she left early.
Another nominee, Laxmikant Berde for the Marathi film Manoos came with little son Abhinay. His wife Priya stayed home with his five-month-old daughter,Swanandi.

Alka Yagnik looking peachy in a new outfit, was accompanied by her mother and daughter. Both looked delighted when Alka won not one but two awards.
Meenakshi’s daughter and sister also kept her company backstage. The little one, Kendra sported a boy cut and clutching a much-loved doll, wandered around cute and curious.

SARIKA SWINGS INTO ACTION
Sarika flew down all the way from Chennai to represent husband Kamal who was busy shooting his new film, Abhay with Raveena. We insisted she sit in front and watch the show. She insisted she would rather be backstage with all its nervous tension and help out. And did just that shrugging off all temper tantrums with a smile, a oasis of calm in a story sea of helpers. Ramesh Sippy was equally helpful. After the awards Sarika trooped off with Shabana and Javed to talk long into the night about an award that had not one dull moment. They jointly phoned to compliment Shah Rukh Khan for his very “feeling” felicitation.

WOW MAN RAHUL
Our master of ceremony for the evening claimed her was nervous. But showed no signs of nervousness and wowed everyone with a faultless performance.

SNAP!
Aishwarya almost had a heart-attack minutes before she stepped out on stage. The hook holding her dress in place snapped...!

A GOODNIGHT FOR THE GUARDS
Padmini Kolhapure in a shimmering blue salwar kameez gave the security guards something to boast about when on her way out she wished them a cheery goodnight. Pandy’s not changed!

OPERATION VASUNDHARA
Vasundhara das was one of the contenders for the Most Promising Newcomer Award but she regretfully informed us that she couldn’t make it to the show. “I’ve just had an operation. I can’t turn up in bandages,” she pointed out. We forgave her. The award was won by Shilpa Navalkar, Pramod Navalkar’s wife who had her husband by her side gently concerned for his wife who was carrying their child.

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SEVENTH SCREEN VIDEOCON AWARDS