Over an hour on the road, crawling through viscous sludge of heavy traffic is what led us to the Yash Raj Studios in Andheri West, Mumbai. The invite said 7pm so 7pm was reporting time and the driver advised us to leave our hotel in Bandra at 5:30pm if we were to make it on time. Driving through the congested roads and a very unglamorous drudgery of traffic, it was the Filmfare signage that suggested we were close to the venue. Finally. As the black and gold arrows directed us to our destination (which, on the outside was very similar to Miskeen Gali which inhabits the Karachi Commune), we finally felt the excitement that one feels in the presence of an occasion as historical as the 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards 2014 were expected to be.
After a slightly disappointing half hour wait outside the heavy iron gates, feeling like Charlie outside Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, we were let in onto yards of plush red carpet. There was nothing extraordinary about the venue except for the aura that infused icons and legends of the past and present into the crisp January air that evening. Some of those legends would walk through much later and what one saw in the meantime was a bevy of starlets in tight, revealing gowns, elaborate hairdos and abundant jewels. It was a battle of the bodies, for fashion and attraction is what would grab the camera eye unless you were an A-lister and it followed you regardless.
RED CARPET ESSENTIALS
While it has become mandatory to roll out a red carpet at every trivial event in Pakistan, we still do not have a pure red carpet to serve the purpose. The many event management companies need to invest in one. Secondly, you can’t have a red carpet without glammed up celebrities; corporate babas and babies, media men and women and poorly dressed individuals do not red carpet material make.
The Filmfare red carpet was gown galore! Kajol looked pretty (but nondescript) in a pastel Shantanu & Nikhil gown, Kanika Kapoor, who later won Best Playback Singer (female) for ‘Baby Doll’, turned up in a strapless and plunging gold outfit, Ileana D’Cruz broke the norm and decided upon an edgy, black Nikhil Thampi pant-suit with a matching cape and Rekha was a vision in a regal sari. Evelyn Sharma wore an unattractive shade of orange and a bevy of tall, scantily clad actresses modeled the whole nine yards of red carpet glamour: sequins, satin, stilettos and all. The first true icon to appear was Monisha Koirala, who’s championed a fight against cancer and genuinely deserved all the attention she got. That beaming smile came from the heart and won everyone’s heart.
Interestingly, celebrity arrivals were spaced out and they continued to walk in even after the show had begun. It was a useful strategy to ensure that everyone was photographed properly; it gave ample time to cameras recording soundbytes and resulted in everyone feeling special. Some stars, of course, were just effortlessly special. Deepika Padukone, for example, overshadowed everyone and everything on the red carpet. Tall, Amazonian and gorgeous to the core, her dimpled and easy smile charmed everyone. Alia Bhatt looked spectacular but her unhappy scowl on the red carpet did her no favours. Thankfully she turned on her cute charm for the show. A human shield floating on the red carpet created a flurry of excitement and one realized it was in fact guarding the Salman Khan, who was the biggest star of the evening and was completely unapproachable.
Non celebrities and the general body of guests and fans was hastened off the red carpet and ushered into a lounge where bubblies flowed generously and canapés kept people busy while they waited for the show to begin. The stars were led into a separate lounge.
Red Carpet favourites: Deepika Padukone (Ashi Studio), Kalki Koechlin (Nikhil Thampi), Sonam Kapoor (Anamika Khanna) and of course, Fawad Khan (Dior).
IT’S A TV SHOW AND EVERYONE HAS A ROLE TO PLAY
Karan Johar, after taking to stage, made it very clear that this was a TV recording and every member of the audience had a role to play. A couple of entertaining acts were thrown in to generate some genuine applause but otherwise the entire evening was orchestrated with TV in mind. It’s the opposite in Pakistan, where an award show is passed off as a gala event for people to enjoy.
Karan Johar and Kapil Sharma, comedian of the moment, hosted the show with "classy versus maasi" humour. They had the audience in fits, which intensified as Arjun Kapoor joined K.Jo and turned the heat up on gay humour, pun intended. If you’re following the AIB Roast Show controversy that has been making headlines all week then you’ll know what Karan and Arjun are capable of. Get a glimpse of it tonight as the program is aired on television!
The Filmfares began with a live performance by Ranbir Kapoor, whose agile footwork was very, very impressive. But what stole the show was the three-dimensional, animated stage. The main show area wasn’t of gargantuan proportions - it must have been seating no more than 500 guests - but the area-enveloping stage was larger than life, apropos to the stars it was hosting.
The program had an easy going, casual flair, which may be lost in editing, but sitting there and watching it live was undoubtedly awe-inspiring. Perfection came naturally, with no technical goof-ups or guffaws to mar the grandeur of the evening. A human slip here and there was inevitable but the show sailed through effortlessly. And contrary to what is expected of a TV recording, it wasn’t painfully stretched and wrapped up within four hours of starting. Or so it seemed, as time flied by. Most of the performances you’ll see on television were pre-recorded and so saved on time.
AWARDS AND ATTENDANCE
Actors who don’t win will probably not attend the ceremony unless they’re bound in some sort of contract or unless they are being paid big bucks for a performance. That’s an expected norm. The industry should be big enough to find easy replacements to keep the show going with just as much enthusiasm and excitement.
This year’s Filmfares were conspicuous for the absence of Shah Rukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai and most of the A-listers. But that didn’t seem to hamper anyone’s excitement because there was sincere appreciation for a younger, upcoming generation of celebrities and the fact that the nominees were critically impressive as opposed to being box office hits. Shahid Kapoor’s award won one of the biggest sighs of relief from the audience; it was accompanied by thunderous applause when Amitabh Bachchan came onstage to do the honours. Another deserved win was Kangana Ranaut who picked up the Black Lady for Queen. Most of the awards were deemed fair and lent a very authentic aura to the evening.
It’s never easy to swallow defeat, which is probably why Tiger Shroff, Fawad Khan’s biggest competition in the Best Debut category, walked out after Fawad was announced victorious. Deepika was an unexpectedly gracious loser but then with the amount of attention she was getting, who wouldn’t be.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Kamini Kaushal, who one congratulated in the lobby and started a very heartfelt conversation on her love for Lahore with. "I am from Lahore," she offered with a warm smile, "and have visited Pakistan thrice. But I’m quite upset that they have torn down my home in Chauburjee and replaced it with a shopping plaza."
Queen, Haider and 2 States were movies of the night but for us the biggest moment was Fawad Khan picking up the trophy for Best Debut (Male). He goes down in history as the first actor from Pakistan to do so and that’s what made the 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards 2014 so special for us. There have been bigger shows and better hosts but this year will go down in history and we’re delighted that we were there to witness it up close!
Images courtesy Filmfare