Ranveer Singh's epic night at Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai

Mumbai: Bollywood actor Ranveer Singh and his 18th century warrior romance Bajirao Mastani enjoyed an epic night at the Zee Cine Awards in Mumbai on Saturday evening as the film took home 12 awards including Best Actor (jury), Best Film (jury) and Best Actress for Deepika Padukone (popular). 

He shared the Best Actor (jury) with the veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan, who won for his role as an eccentric but endearing old man with bowel movement issues in Piku.

Singh, who sprinted on stage to accept his trophy for Bajirao Mastani, gave a gracious vote of acceptance, as he reminisced about his childhood idol - Amitabh Bachchan, who was absent fr the awards presentation ceremony at Reliance Jio Gardens in India's film capital.

“For me, to be here on the stage accepting an award which is a tie with him is an incredible moment … I am grateful to Mr Bachchan for inspiring me to become an actor and entertaining people for so many decades,” said Singh.

“Hats off to the greatest star actor that we have ever seen in Hindi cinema. My earliest memories  was sitting in front of the TV and watch all of Mr Bachchan’s films like Ajooba, Hum, Shehenshah. I am a die hard fan of Bachchan saab [sir]. He’s a large part of the reason why I wanted to be an actor,” he added.Going by the thunderous applause he got from the viewers for his bouncing live-wire persona, the universe is grateful for it.  But the truly adorable moment arrived when Singh used technology to his advantage and connected his girlfriend Deepika Padukone, who is filming with Vin Diesel in Canada for her first Hollywood film xXx: The Return Of The Xander Cage, on Facetime to break the news of her winning the Best Actress Award for Bajirao Mastani (popular) and Piku (jury).

“It’s an incredible honour to win the Best Actress award tonight. Thank you Sanjay [Leela Bhansali, director], Ranveer and Priyanka [Chopra] for being amazing co-stars and every single person who made this film so special. I am on the set filming, but this is great news. Wow,” said Padukone over the phone from Canada.

While Bajirao Mastani curried favour with the critics on the jury panel and won all the technical awards including the Best VFX, Best Action and Best Sound Design, Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bachchan and Padukone’s Piku and debutante director Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan also enjoyed awards glory.

“When I went to Salman Khan with the script of Bhajrangi Bhaijaan, I told him that in all your movies you get to beat up men, but in this one you will be the one being beaten up. I am so happy that he’s won the love of his audience with this film that shows that love can transcend boundaries and countries,” said Kabir Khan, the director of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, who accepted the Best Actor trophy on Khan’s behalf. Although Salman Khan made a fleeting appearance at the awards ceremony, he did not wait till 11pm to hear who won and was seen dashing for the door. 

Masaan, a grim drama set in Varanasi, was also a prominent player at the ZCAs 2016.

“I want to dedicate the award to Varanasi and the people of small-time India. The true stories come from there,” said director Ghaywan.

Meanwhile, music director Anu Malik, who won the Best Music award for Moh Moh Ke Daage for Dum Laga Ke Haisha, described his win as a “comeback”.

“I am the underdog here … The competition is fierce this year tonight and anything can happen. But let me tell you, I am a Scorpio and this zodiac sign never gives up,” said Malik on the red carpet. He called it his comeback and his successful new innings.

It was a season of firsts at the ZCA 2016. For the first time, a jury panel was set up to judge four categories including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Film and Best Director. Awards were also instituted for Bengali, Telugu and Marathi films.

Director Sanjay Manjrekar’s blockbuster Natasamrat won big.

“Natasamrat is based on a play and every actor worth his salt will want to play this role. It was a difficult job to make this film because it wasn’t commercial, but the film has broken all box-office records in Marathi cinema. I feel proud that such cinema is being appreciated,” said Manjrekar. Its lead actor, Nana Patekar, won the Best Actor Award for Marathi cinema. 

Awards weren’t the sole highlight of the evening. Director Karan Johar and actor Shahid Kapoor,who played hosts for the evening, took it upon themselves to spread cheer. On the performances front, Sushant Singh Rajput and actor Anil Kapoor demonstrated how agile they are on stage. Kapoor, who busted his iconic moves from his blockbuster Ram Lakhan, made it a point to show youngsters such as Ranveer Singh and his nephew, Arjun Kapoor, how it’s done.

“Boys, watch and learn,” he said in Hindi, playfully. He called his stage performance as a great cardio work-out.

“With the rehearsals, I must have lost at least three to five kilos. So I am not complaining,” said Kapoor, known for his age-defying looks.

The awards will be telecast on March 5 on Zee Cinema at 7.30pm.

Bollywood

Best Actor: Salman Khan for Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Actress: Deepika Padukone for Bajirao Mastani

Best Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Debutant Male: Vicky Kaushal for Masaan

Best Debutant Female: Bhoomi Padnekar for Dum Laga Ke Haisha and Harshaali Malhotra for Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Debutant Director: Neeraj Ghaywan for Masaan

Best Actor in Comic Role: Nawazuddin Siddiqui for Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Actor in Negative Role: Nawazuddin Siddiqui for Badlapur

Best Actor in Supporting Role: Sanjay Mishra for Masaan

Best Actress in Supporting Role: Shweta Triphati for Masaan

Song of the Year: Prem Ratan Dhan Payo

Editing: Masaan

Best Product Design:Bajirao Mastani

Best Sound Design: Bajirao Mastani

Best Background Score: Bajirao Mastani

Best VFX: Bajirao Mastani

Best Action: Bajirao Mastani

Best Choreographer: Ganesh Acharya for 'Malhari' from Bajirao Mastani

Best Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee for Bajirao Mastani

Best Story: Juhi Chaturvedi for Piku

Best Dialogues: Juhi Chaturvedi Piku

Lifetime Achievement Award: Veeru Devgn

Best Lyrics: Varun Grover for 'Moh Moh ke Dhaage' from Dum Laga Ke Haisha

Best Music: Anu Malik for 'Moh Moh ke Dhaage' from Dum Laga Ke Haisha

International Icon Award: Anil Kapoor

Best Playback Singer (Female): Shreya Ghoshal for 'Mohe Rang Do Lal' from Bajirao Mastani

Best Playback Singer (Male): Arijit Singh for 'Sooraj Dooba Hai' from Roy and Mohit Chauhan for 'Matargashti' from Tamasha

Jury Awards

Best Actress: Deepika Padukone for Piku

Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan for Piku and Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani

Best Director: Sanjay Leela Bansali for Bajirao Mastani

Best Film: Bajirao Mastani

Bengali Film

Best Actress: Churni Ganguly for Nirbashito

Best Actor: Prosenjit

Best Film: Belaseshe

Marathi Film

Best Actress: Amrita Subhash for Killa

Best Actor: Nana Patekar for Natsamrat

Best Film: Natsamrat