Bollywood superstar Salman Khan on Friday night joked about his suspended five-year jail sentence at his first public appearance since his conviction in a hit-and-run case. Performing at the inaugural Arab Indo Bollywood Awards (Aiba) at Meydan in Dubai on May 29, Khan, who requires permission from a Mumbai court to leave India, performed to the song Mashallah from his film Ek Tha Tiger, and Fevicol Se, from Dabangg 2, and even sang a few lines from Hangover (Kick).
While accepting the award for best debut director for Kick from Khan, Sajid Nadiadwala said making the film was so nerve-wracking, he probably wouldn’t be making another film for the next five to six years.
“That’s because I have no dates available,” Khan quipped.
The actor, who was earlier scheduled to make his entrance in a hot air balloon, chose to walk through the crowd to the stage instead.
“You see that thing behind you?,” he asked the audience prior to his performance. “It was taking me half an hour to climb into that basket and then climbing out. I felt it was a total waste of time”.
Whatever may be his legal status at the moment, going by the deafening screams, he hasn’t lost any fans.
The hot air balloon, however, wasn’t made redundant. Clad fairy-like in golden sequins, Priyanka Chopra made her entry sitting on the edge of the basket, casting glitter into the audience. The performances and dances on stage were colourfully choreographed by Shiamak Davar, and the stars, from Jacqueline Fernandez to the Meet Brothers (Indian music director duo) and Kanika Kapoor to Varun Dhawan and Chopra, all received their fair share of whistles and screams.
Show hosts Karan Johar and Manish Paul were funny, at times.
Late into the night, the stylish cast of the June 4 Bollywood release Dil Dhadakne Do — Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma — joined Chopra and producer Ritesh Sidhwani to play a game of — wait for it — passing the parcel.
As for the awards, best film went to Rajkumar Hirani for PK, Kangana Ranaut and Chopra shared the best actress award for Queen and Mary Kom respectively, and Shahid Kapoor took the trophy for Haider. Kanika Kapoor won best female singer for Baby Doll (Ragini MMS 2) and Ankit Tiwari for Galiyan (Ek Villain). Tiwari also won for composing Galiyan. The surprise winners were, however, the team of Filmistaan, which was nominated in six categories and took home prizes for best screenplay (director Nitin Kakkar), best male actor in comic role (Sharib Hashmi) and best supporting actor (Inaamulhaq).
Actors Varun Dhawan and Parineeti Chopra were given Arab Youth Icon male and female awards respectively.
While the stars entertained on the stage, a corresponding drama ensued on the ground as there seemed to be a much larger number of guests than actual chairs. In fact, when the star of the show, Khan, slipped in with his swarm of men in black, he too did not have a seat and had to wait as a chair was brought in. Meanwhile, specific instructions were being thrown out to “clear out” the area as the standing crowd tried to catch a glimpse of their on-screen idol.
You’d imagine the organisers would have everyone seated in the first half hour of the show to avoid confusion, but rows of chairs were being added in front of the stars as the well-heeled UAE gliteratti made its way in late at night.
Don’t miss it!
The Aibas will be aired on Zee Cinema on July 24 at 7.30pm in the UAE. For more, go to aibagulf.com.
