In an industry generously coated in glitz and glamour, there’s sure to be an abundance of celebrations. Whether it’s a premiere, launch, wedding, concert, or simply a party, our stars never fail to keep cameras clicking. Here, BollySpice recalls the top 10 events of 2006 that left us talking, gossiping, and ultimately — breathless.
10. Emraan Hashmi Wedding
Known primarily for his countless lip-locks, Emraan Hashmi finally tied the knot late this year in Mumbai with sweetheart Parveen Sahani. While the bride was glowing in a red lengha-choli, Emraan took a suave approach in a black suit, black shirt, and black tie. With his hair combed back, Emraan was simply radiating joy. Although he claims there will be no more kissing, it remains to be seen whether this serial kisser will be able to resist. Really, you can take the Emraan out of kissing, but you can’t take the kissing out of Emraan! If that made any sense…anyway, you get the point.
9. Lakme India Fashion Week
When you see a picture of a celebrity, what’s the first thing you notice? Not so much who they’re with, where they are or what they’re doing. It’s all about the look; what they are wearing. Those outrageous shoes, hot dresses, ugly jackets, and awesome shirts are what make us talk. The annual Lakme India Fashion Week outlines just that — glamour. Showcasing fashion with an Indian twist, LIFW surely brought the stars to town. The highlight of the event was without a doubt, renowned fashion designer Manish Malhotra’s fashion show. Apart from the clothes, it was more about who was in them! Manish got good friends Preity Zinta and Kajol to scorch the ramp with unbelievable finesse in his show-stopping designs, leaving us all drooling for more!
8. Rockstars 2006 Concert
After a series of complications, including a delay, world tour Rockstars 2006 finally took off and landed first in North America and progressed to the U.K. Featuring Salman Khan, John Abraham, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor, Zayed Khan, Esha Deol, and Mallika Sherawat, the tour set cities around the world on fire. Despite rumours of its failure, Rockstars performed quite well compared to the Heat 2006 tour right before it. Surrounded by tons of controversies and tension, all this was thrown away once the stars set foot on the stage and performed wonderfully. This year, Rockstars really did rock the world.
7. Sabse Favourite Kaun Awards 2005/2006
We can argue all we want over who’s hot and who’s not, but the Star Gold Sabse Favourite Kaun Awards give us the facts straight from the public. The largest audience-wide poll conducted, culminated with an awards ceremony, is always an event to look out for. While the 2005 awards ceremony took place early this spring, the 2006 function was held in late December. For two years in a row, Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee have taken the “Sabse Favourite Hero/Heroine” award home, proving that they are the winners in the race of popularity.
6. 51 st Annual Filmfare Awards
The 51 st Annual Filmfare Awards, one of the most prominent award functions in Bollywood, once again turned out to be an extraordinary event. While Black literally swept the awards, a special performance from the one and only Madhuri Dixit gracefully dancing to Devdas tunes left us longing for the 90s queen to light up the screen once again. Another exciting part of the electrifying evening was the attendance of Hollywood actor Will Smith who presented the Best Actress award to Rani Mukherjee. The function also featured brilliant performances from Lara Dutta, Abhishek Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Shamita Shetty, and Aishwarya Rai. Filmfare evidently raised the bar this year, so lets hope they can live up to the hype next year as well.
5. Cannes Film Festival
As Bollywood begins to leave its mark on international soil, the prestigious 2006 Cannes Film Festival was no exception. This spring it seemed as if Bollywood had migrated to the festival, with stars, directors and producers flocking to Cannes. Aishwarya Rai, who has made an annual appearance at Cannes since 2002, including one as a jury member, attended as a L’Oreal ambassador and charmed at the premiere of her international film Provoked, for which she won rave reviews. Karan Johar and Preity Zinta were also at the event promoting Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. Meanwhile, Vishal Bhardawaj, Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi were busy promoting their Omkara which also won great applause after a few clips were screened. At the same time, over a dozen production houses and companies set up their own stalls to promote their films on an international scale. Bollywood definitely made its presence felt this year at Cannes; a trend that is sure to continue. Plus, Preity Zinta’s gold outfit was certainly a popular conversation starter!
4. IIFA Weekend
Who needs the Oscars when you’ve got IIFA? Established a few years back with ambassador Amitabh Bachchan at the helm, IIFA has emerged as the most popular weekend in Bollywood, all leading up to a tremendous awards show on the final day. This year taking place in Dubai, IIFA featured the premiere of Provoked as well as countless music and movie launches. With the cr
