The 9th Annual Bollywood Awards held on Saturday night in New York was a glittering star-filled affair. With brilliant performances and the top-honors being given out in the nominated categories, it certainly was a show to see. Before the awards were presented Kamal Dandona, organizer for the awards and the chairman of the Bollywood Group said that Bollywood movies are “enduring and loveable” link between Non-resident Indians and their country.
Several special awards were presented during the evening’s festivities.
Asha Parekh was honored with Life Time Achievement Award. Right before she was presented with her award, the audience was treated to a dance sequence choreographed and based on songs that she had performed on the silver screen.
Mira Nair, was given the ‘Pride of India Award, for her contribution to Indian cinema. She introduced Indian culture to Western Audiences through her critically acclaimed films. Danny Glover, who was also a recipient of a special award for his Achievement in Cinematography, presented her award.
Finally, Donald Trump was given the special prize of ‘Global Leadership’ for his expertise and success in so many different fields of work.
For films, actors, actresses and singers the night also held some special recognition.
Rang De Basanti won the prize for Best Editing.
The Best Female Playback Singer was awarded to Alka Yagnik for ‘Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna’.
The Best Male Singer went to Shaan for ‘Chand Sifarish’ from Fanaa.
Upen Patel was chosen Best Debut-Male for his role in 36 China Town.
Kangana Ranaut was presented with the Best Debut-Female for her performance in Gangster.
Anupam Kher got the award for Best Comedy for his role in Khosla Ka Ghosla.
For Best Actor in a Negative Role the award went to Saif Ali Khan for his critically acclaimed role in Omkara.
Kirron Kher won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Rang De Basanti. Her fellow nominees were Konkona Sen Sharma, Preity Zinta, Soha Ali Khan and Amisha Patel.
For Best Actor in Supporting Role, Vivek Oberoi won for his role in Omkara. Arshad Warsi, Kunal Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham were the other nominees in this category.
Bipasha Basu was chosen the Best Actress for her role in Corporate. Basu prevailed over Aishwarya Rai – Dhoom 2, Kajol- Fanna, Kareena Kapoor- Omkara and Rani Mukherjee- Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna.
Both Oberoi and Basu were scheduled to perform and both their numbers were a huge success. During Oberoi’s dazzling performance, he entertained the audience so much that many of the younger members were dancing and clapping with him much to the worry of the security guards! Bipasha Basu was a huge hit with the fans too; she received tons of cheers and whistles for her 15-minute act.
Hrithik Roshan beat the best of the best by winning Best Actor for his performance in Dhoom 2. The others nominated in the Best Actor category were Aamir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Sanjay Dutt and Shah Rukh Khan.
The biggest winner of the evening was Lage Raho Munnabhai with 4 awards. It not only won for Best Dialogue and Story, it also was given the award for Best Director and the nights highest honor Best Movie.
Rajkumar Hirani won over the other outstanding nominees that included: Rakesh Roshan for Krrish, Karan Johar for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra for Rang De Basanti and Vishal Bharadwaj for Omkara.
For the award for Best Movie, Lage Raho Munnabhai, produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra, won the top honors by claming the award over Dhoom2, Omkara, Rang De Basanti and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehnaa.
The nominees were based on a poll conducted among non-resident Indians in the United States, Britain and Caribbean nations then a committee of critics, artists and other leading personalities decided the winners.
We applaud all the winners and in fact everyone who has made Indian cinema something to be proud of and honored!
