Taare Zameen Par, Om Shanti Om and Chak De India! share the maximum honours at the Zee Cine Awards 2008 in London.
Lights, camera, action! These three legendary Bollywood words set the Lux Zee Cine Awards 2008 rolling in England's capital at the weekend.
Bollywood's entire fraternity descended on ExCel London in the Docklands area of the city on Saturday night for what turned out to be a scintillating evening with vibrant star performances, a frenzied audience and fireworks.
It was an event in which Taare Zameen Par (TZP), Om Shanti Om (OSO) and Chak De India! (CDI) shared the limelight with maximum honours by winning five awards each.
The red carpet spectacle began a couple of hours before the show with all the major stars parading in their best attire. Female stars mostly opted for long designer gowns while their male counterparts went for traditional formal suits or tuxedos.
The most talked about couples - Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone - made the biggest buzz on the red carpet while the most anticipated star, Shah Rukh Khan, managed to sneak in through the
back door to avoid the hullabaloo.
And to welcome them to the event, the celebrities were greeted with Bollywood favourites performed by a British band.
The evening began with traditional Punjabi beats followed by popular numbers sung by Zee Sa Re Ga Ma Pa's champion singers. Teaming up for the first time, the hosts for the evening were popular director and producer Karan Johar and filmmaker-cum-comic-anchor Sajid Khan.
However, it has to be said, though they managed to tickle our funny bone, they didn't exactly bring down the house with their humour. Luckily, other elements of the night more than made up for it.
The event was held on a state-of-the-art stage which had 3-D digital imaging that changed to suit each performance during the evening creating an electrifying impact with its changing colours, designs and images.
Star Performances
Vidya Balan gave the first performance of the evening and was followed by a mix of Asian British stars including Upen Patel, Geeta Basra, Jay Sean and Hard Kaur. But it was Sean who earned the loudest applause for his soundtracks.
Ganesh Hegde, the Bollywood ace choreographer, not only choreographed the entire show but also pitched in an impeccable solo performance.
Bigger performances came from Bollywood's latest pin-up Katrina Kaif and Saif Ali Khan who wowed the audience with their sexy dance numbers from Race.
The evening reached its crescendo with Kareena Kapoor dancing to her latest tracks including the hugely popular Mauja Mauja from Jab We Met (JWM).
Of course, the best was saved for last with Shah Rukh Khan performing the item number, Deewangee Deewangee, track
from OSO. Many stars joined Shah Rukh on stage to get into the groove with him but it didn't make up for the absence of the big stars that lightened the actual number in OSO.
Nevertheless, Saif Ali, Kareena, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Arjun Rampal, Dino Morea, Neha Dhupia and Minissha Lamba managed to add sufficient glamour to the dance number.
There was no mistaking that Shah Rukh was the star of the evening thanks to the thunderous aaplause he generated
every time the spotlight was on him.
Winners
OSO picked up awards for Best Visual tracks, Best Costumes, Best Choreography, Best Female Debutante (Padukone) and the surprise one, Best Villain for
Rampal.
Despite Aamir Khan's absence, TZP fetched awards for Best Story, Best Lyrics, Best Critic's Actor (Darsheel Safary) and Most Promising Debut Director and the Best Director award (Aamir Khan).
CDI also managed to equal its rivals by winning the awards for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Dialogue, Best Film and Best Actor (Shah Rukh Khan).
On picking up his award, Shah Rukh said: "Chak De India! is one of the most special roles and films of my career."
Best Actress went to Kareena Kapoor, for her energetic act in JWM, who thanked her fans for their support and her director (Imitiaz Ali) for giving her the role.
The biggest surprises of the evening were Govinda winning the Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in Partner while Shilpa Shetty won the Best Supporting Actress Award for her role in Life in a Metro.
"A real partner is one who supports you when you need it the most and I was lucky to have partners such as David Dhawan and Salman Khan, who helped me to get back with Partner," said an emotional Govinda.
While an elated Shetty said: "I am ecstatic as this is the first time I am winning an award. London has been special to me [earlier she won TV's Celebrity Big Brother in the UK] and I want to thank everyone for their support, especially my parents who are my support system in winning the Best Supporting Actress award."
With moving speeches and great performances, the star-studded evening came to an end in style leaving Bollywood fans eager for next year's event.
Lifestyle award
There were quite a few special accolades given away at the Zee Cine Awards 2008 and one of them was the Lifestyle Award.
The new award introduced this year by Dubai Lifestyle City, went to a surprised Shah Rukh Khan who least expected it. But his fans were thrilled to see him back on the stage.
"This is a surprise for me. I am not aware why this award is given to me but I am like a kid when it comes to awards as I accept it happily. I would like to thank Dubai Lifestyle City for giving me this award," he said.
The award has been created for those who have demonstrated vision and leadership in the industry with an outstanding contribution and become role models for budding stars. Needless to say, Shah Rukh definitely fits the bill.
Best Actor
Rekha handed over the Best Actor trophy to Shah Rukh Khan for his performance in Chak De India!
In his acceptance speech, he said: "London is one of my favourite places and it is the overseas fans who have made me the star I am today.
"I am thankful for Jaideep Sahni for writing such a wonderful role, Shimit Amin for choosing me to act in this film, Aditya Chopra for producing the film and the 16 to 17 girls who worked hard as hockey players in the film. Chak De India! is a memorable film for me."
He went on to recite a few popular lines from the film - a rare treat for his fans.
Some of the winners in the popular categories:
Best Film
Chak De! India (Aditya Chopra, Yash Raj Films)
Best Director
Aamir Khan (Taare Zameen Par)
Best Actor
Shah Rukh Khan (Chak De India!)
Best Actress
Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)
Best Supporting Actor
Govinda (Partner)
Best Supporting Actress
Shilpa Shetty (Life in a Metro)
Best Actor in a Comic Role
Vinay Pathak (Bheja Fry)
Best Actor in a Villainous Role
Arjun Rampal (Om Shanti Om)
Best Male Debutant
Ranbir Kapoor (Saawariya)
Best Female Debutant
Deepika Padukone (Om Shanti Om)
Best Music
A.R. Rahman (Guru)
Best Male Playback Singer
Shaan (Jab Se Tere Naina, Saawariya)
Best Female Playback Singer
Shreya Ghosal (Guru)
Most Popular Track Of The Year
Mauja Mauja (Jab We Met)
Critic's choice
Best Film
Gandhi My Father
Best Actress
Shefali Shah (Gandhi My Father)
Best Actor
Darsheel Safary (Taare Zameen Par)
Special Jury Award
Neil Nitin Mukesh (Johnny Gadaar)
