Some of Bollywood's biggest stars paid tribute to host country Singapore as they danced, joked, presented and received awards in what was the island country's biggest gathering of Indian celebrities yet at the Zee Cine Awards late on Friday night.
Hosts Akshay Kumar and Sajid Khan, who took to stage an hour-and-half later than scheduled, played pranks on their colleagues and helped announced winners in more than 38 categories while Priyanka Chopra, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Arjun Rampal performed.
But the highlight of the evening was without a doubt Shah Rukh Khan, whose performance was slotted at the end of the four-hour show. The announcement of Khan's name saw audiences clambering towards the stage to get a better look at the star, who looked dangerously close to stealing the show from the night's hosts.
Khan, calling Hrithik Roshan up on stage, joked: "He is a massive star who's got the looks and the talent. But you know what? I've taught him everything he knows, even his dance moves." A bewildered Roshan was left blushing on stage when Khan called his wife Sussanne and told him: "Today, I'm going to teach you how to truly honour and respect your wife." The megastar then went on to perform the song Sajda from his latest film My Name is Khan, with actor Roshan imitating his moves.
Khan was later honoured with a Best Actor award for the same film.
"I didn't think I could do the role, so I must thank Karan Johar and Shibani [the film's writer]."
All the award winners were made to jump on a trampoline after they received their awards. While actors Vidya Balan (Best Actress for Ishqiya) and Arjun Rampal (Best Supporting Actor for Rajneeti) enthusiastically took on the challenge, the humour of that little stunt was soon lost on other stars.
Veteran actor Shahtrughan Sinha, now a politician, honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award, invited his entire family on stage. The audience's applause in the midst of his speech, to cue him off the stage, didn't quite register on the actor.
He later walked up the stage again when his daughter Sonakshi Sinha won the Best Female Debut for Dabanng.
Funny moments
Organisers seemed keen to make use of every single star they'd flown down to Singapore. Rai Bachchan, who received Best Actress in the jury selection, presented more than one award and performed. Balan won and presented and so did Roshan, while Rampal won, presented and performed.
The night was not without its funny moments. Bollywood beauty Chopra's performances of snippets from all the six Best Film nominees had the audience in splits. Host Kumar took potshots at himself, inviting audiences to mourn by observing a minute's silence for the fate of his film Action Replayy.
The critically acclaimed low-budget film Udaan walked away with the Best Jury Film, Best Jury Director for Vikramaditya Motwane and Best Actor in a Negative Role for Ronit Roy.
But the real honour of the evening seemed to be reserved for the host city.
"I'm here to personally say thank you for all the love you have given me over the years," said Rai Bachchan earlier in the evening.
Roshan, after his short performance with Khan shouted: "Wow, what an amazing night in the most amazing city in the world."
The stars might have come out to play but the night, it seemed, belonged to Singapore.
