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'I can only say thank you so much'

Kanchana Suggu and Sukanya Verma

Mahima Click for bigger pic!

The conveyor belt at the Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi. Two pretty girls wait patiently for their luggage. Nothing unusual, you might say, but we still do a double take. The faces in question belong to Pardes girl Mahima Chowdhury and her sister, Akanksha.

Do we have our first interview?

"Oh," Mahima apologises, "I am rushing straight to Pragati Maidan. I have to perform on some five or six Lata numbers and I don't know a line of any of her songs. I am going to be really busy for the next two days. I even have an early morning flight to catch the day after tomorrow. I have no time for interviews at all. Maybe we can do something in Bombay."

She sounded very hassled. So much so, she even got the venue wrong. Actually, the stars of the Hindi film industry were descending on New Delhi to participate in the second Sansui Film Awards, to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

But we were determined. We were going to get a few interviews! So we wormed our way into the rehearsals, convinced that we would be the only journalists there... Apart from the junior dancers and choreographer Ganesh Acharya and some of the organisers, we also happened to be the only people there.

Don't worry, we were assured, the stars would be there post-lunch. At 5 pm, we gave up. Apparently, Anil Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and Sonali Bendre were held up at the shoot of Boney Kapoor's Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai. As for the rest, no one around had any clue...

Boney Kapoor and Sridevi Click for bigger pic!

We decided to make our disappointed way back to the hotel (luckily, the stars were staying at the same place we were) and buttonhole a few quick interviews. We hung around in the lobby. Fortunately, after a while, we spotted a sleepy-looking Karan Johar. Unfortunately, he was least interested in giving an interview. "I am very busy," he informed us. Then, looking at our downcast faces, he explained he was off to London for a few days and gave us his new phone numbers.

We loitered in the lobby some more. No one of consequence made an appearance. Disappointed, and suddenly very aware that we had not eaten all day, we made our way towards the restaurant along with Vivek Vaswani. He told us he loves to cook and has eclectic taste in food. He even insisted on parting with a few of his favourite recipes.

Fortified, we continued with our star quest. We attempted to speak to Aftab Shivdasani and Namrata Shirodkar; both were snootiness personified. We also spotted Sonali Bendre; she seemed quite easy-going but disappeared before we could reach her.

This time, we really gave up! And made our way to the bus, which had been specially hired to transport the guests to the venue...

On the way, we spotted an enthusiastic Naghma, getting her pictures clicked! Besides us, the only other people in the bus were fight master-turned-director Ravi Dewan and Vivek Vaswani. The others, it seems, preferred a more private mode of transport.

At least there was some excitement at the venue. Delhiites trying to glimpse their favourite stars, the latter all dressed up for the event, children yelling out to their idols, trying to shake hands with them...

Kajol Click for bigger pic!

As usual, it was a long wait... Yet, there was a flood of applause when Suresh Oberoi and Nikki Aneja, the hosts for the evening, strolled in to begin the proceedings by introducing the jury -- Sunil Dutt, Boney Kapoor, Sridevi, Dimple Kapadia, Zeenat Aman, Geetanjali Kirloskar, Gita Vitthal, Neena Dayal and Rajalakshmi Kamat.

Then came one of the nicest surprises of the evening -- a lovely classical dance by former actress Meenakshi Sheshadri. Not that it was easy watching her performance; with every one strolling just about everywhere, it required much yelling and craning of our necks to spot the stage. Security, we must say, was rather lax. Ravi Dewan and Tinnu Anand finally resorted to chucking crumpled invites at whoever blocked their view.

The awards were being announced now, and it was obvious that not too many people were pleased when Mukesh Tiwari (the villain in China-Gate) pipped Preity Zinta, who was nominated for Dil Se...

Lata Mangeshkar was not there to accept her Lifetime Achievement Award, so presentee Shatrughan Sinha took the mike instead, "I used to loyally listen to all of Lataji's songs and, today, my kids are following that tradition." This was followed by Mahima's performance on a medley of popular Lata numbers, ranging from the Jiya bekarar hai and Ghar aaya mera pardesi to Didi tera devar deewana.

Shatrughan Singha and Dev Anand Click for bigger pic!

The second Lifetime Achievement Award went to Dev Anand. "He has introduced fresh talent into the industry," said presenter Zeenat Aman of her mentor. "He is one of the greatest icons of honesty, integrity and dedication that I have ever known." But Devsaab, who had managed to lose his way while making it to the function, was not present. So Shatrughan Sinha collected the award on his behalf.

In the interim, we spotted some sibling pairs -- Mahima and Akanksha, Akshaye and Rahul Khanna, Kajol and Tanisha... Other familiar faces included Amrish Puri, Pooja Bhatt, Tinnu Anand, Fardeen Khan, Ravi Dewan, Smita Thackeray, Bharat Shah, Jeetendra, Dimple Kapadia and Boney Kapoor and Sridevi, who held hands most of the evening.

When Devsaab finally arrived, he expressed his happiness at being receiving the award in Delhi, "Aap aap hain aur Dilli Dilli." Thunderous applause. "This award is not the ultimate thing for me. I still have miles and miles to go. My next movie, Censor, is going to be a gift to all you people. I have put in a lot of effort into this film. I hope it is the best movie I have ever made." Standing ovation. Devsaab sure knows how to get a crowd going!

Akshaye Khanna Click for bigger pic!

Next in store was a heavy-duty performance by Akshaye Khanna, who danced to a medley of Taal, Himalayputra and Doli Sajake Rakhna. Each time he stopped, he had the audience begging for more...

But the highlight of the evening was a spectacular performance by the twinkle-toed Aishwarya Rai. Dressed in a shimmering blue-back outfit, she danced to Man Mohini and Nimbooda (both from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam). She actually had the crowd on their toes, stretching to watch her perform.

There were, of course, the inevitable goofs. Kishen Kumar was introduced as the owner of Tips and Rinkie Khanna, called upon to give away the award for Best Child Artiste, discovered she had been handed and empty envelope. Nikki tried to cover up by saying the winner would be announced later and rushed in Aftab, who delivered a dispirited performance on the title track of Mast.

Ashutosh Rana and Namrata Shirodkar then took over as the emcees. The former rattled off poetically in chaste Urdu and Hindi, leaving poor Namrata looking like a dumb, dressed-up doll.

Rinkie finally gave the Best Child Artiste Award to Sana Sayed (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai). While the latter was properly filmi, it was the little, well-behaved Sardar kid from the film who once again stole our hearts.

The next lot of awards too were bagged by Karan Johar's team. Then came Jimmy Moses, with his hilarious spoof on the answering machine messages of stars like Shahrukh Khan, Nana Patekar and others. When he announced he was going to imitate Dev Anand next, the star responded with a grin, "Arre, bahut dekhe hain bhai!"

Shilpa Shetty's Main aayee hoon UP, Bihar lootne (Shool) was enthusiastically followed by Sonali Bendre's Maiyya Yashoda and Mhare hiwda mein nache mor from her latest release, Hum Saath-Saath Hain.

"Do I really need to see the name?" This was Kajol, when asked to present the Best Director Award. Much to her delight, the claimant was Karan Johar.

Anil Kapoor Click for bigger pic!

The penultimate act of the evening came from Anil Kapoor, who danced to the Taal and Biwi No 1. He had obviously had no time for any rehearsals, which could have accounted for his disappointing performance. The crowd was in such despair, they were even roused even by the announcements of Best Actress (Kajol, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai)and Best Actor (Kuch Kuch Hota Hai).

Kajol, when asked to say a few words to make up for the absence of Shahrukh, did just that, "I can only say thank you so much." We caught up with her at the airport, the next day, lightly made up and dressed in denim. We requested her to spare a couple of minutes. At first, she smiled, thinking we were fans. We introduced ourselves. She immediately turned her face away.

We made for the farthest corner of the waiting lounge and hoped our boarding announcement would be made quickly.

The list of winners

RELATED LINK
Stars, stardust and SansuiA