FILMFARE AWARDS 2000
A night to remember

The 47th Annual Filmfare Awards took place last month in Mumbai in a swirl of glitz and glamour. Radio Sargam takes a look at the winners and losers and gossip behind the scenes.

The annual Filmfare Awards are always one of the most awaited events in the Indian film industry calendar. It's one of the few ceremonies to attract all the major players in Bollywood and is aired on the small screen throughout the world to millions of adoring fans. This year's awards was as glitzy and glamorous as ever, with the biggest stars turning up in their fanciest outfits to party the night away and find out who would be lucky enough to walk away with the coveted trophies.

The biggest winner on the night was without a doubt Lagaan. The blockbuster picked up an amazing eight awards, including Best Film, Best Actor (Aamir Khan), Best Director and Best Music. It's a shame that Aamir Khan didn't make it for the awards but he hasn't attended Bollywood award ceremonies for years now and even though his movie collected so many trophies, he didn't manage to make an exception this time around. However director Ashutosh Gowariker was obviously in high spirits throughout the event and politely thanked each and every person who came up to congratulate him on the success of Lagaan. "I cannot even put into words the joy I am feeling tonight. The success of Lagaan will make me strive for quality in all my future films," he said with a smile. Other films to collect large numbers of awards were Dil Chahta Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham and Aks.

Highlights from the Filmfare Awards are always provided by the star performances and this year was no exception. The hottest dance number on the night was courtesy of the Kambakth Ishq duo Fardeen Khan and Urmila Matondkar, who did a sizzling performance to the hit song from Pyar Tune Kya Kiya. The crow went wild during the act and Fardeen and Urmila were obviously having the time of their lives as well.

Although there was an uncountable number of stars present, all eyes were on Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai, who both turned up with different guests. Beauty queen Aishwarya Rai was the first to arrive, together with her glamorous friend Parmeshwar Godrej. However, in an attempt to keep a distant from the media glare, they decided to seat themselves in the corner of the venue where they hoped their presence would be low-key. It almost seemed like Salman Khan would not make it to the ceremony, but the popular actor managed to make a grand entry in the nick of time. He greeted the media and took a seat in the aisle behind Aishwarya and Parmeshwar.

Heartthrob Hrithik Roshan was hoping that he might have come away with an away for Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, but he missed out on the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award to Akshaye Khanna. However Hrithik was a great sport about the whole thing and cheered Akshaye when his name was announced as winner. "Well, if you ask me, all the other nominees are actors whom I think I didn't stand a chance against. They're all great actors and they've done marvelous jobs in their respective fields. I'm just happy to be nominated and that people consider me worthy to be mentioned in that list of nominees. It's a good feeling. According to me I was satisfied with my work in the film," he said.

Amazingly, Alka Yagnik was nominated under Best Female Playback Singer for three different songs, which obviously made her a firm favourite to win. She went on to bag the award for the song 'O Re Chhori' from Lagaan. "It feels great. I have won five Filmfare Awards until now and it's always thrilling to win more. I did expect to be nominated but I was pleasantly surprised when I heard that not one, not two but three of my songs were nominated. It means a great deal to me. All said and done, I consider Filmfare Awards to be the 'real awards.'"

Once again the Filmfare Awards were a night to remember. With a New Year full of promise, we wonder who will be reaching out for all the awards next year? They are few certainties in Bollywood but one thing is for sure - you will definitely be able to read all about it on Radio Sargam!

The Winners

· Best Film
Lagaan

· Best Director
Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan)

· Best Actor
Aamir Khan (Lagaan)

· Best Actress
Kajol (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)

· Best Actor in a supporting role
Akshaye Khanna (Dil Chahta Hai)

· Best Actress in a supporting role
Jaya Bachchan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)

· Best Performance in a comic role
Saif Khan (Dil Chahta Hai)

· Best Performance in a villainous role
Akshay Kumar (Ajnabee)

· Best Music
A.R Rahman (Lagaan)

· Best Lyrics
Javed Akhtar (Mitwa - Lagaan)

· Best Male Playback
Udit Narayan (Mitwa - Lagaan)

· Best Female Playback
Alka Yagnik (O Re Chhori - Lagaan)

· Best Screenplay
Farhan Akhtar (Dil Chahta Hai)

· Life Time Achievement Award
Gulzar

· Best Story
Ashutosh Gowariker (Lagaan)

· Best Dialogue
Karan Johar (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)

· Special Award
Raveena Tandon (Aks) &
Amisha Patel (Gadar - Ek Prem Katha)

· R.D Burman Award
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Dil Chahta Hai)

· Best Action
Tinnu Verma (Gadar - Ek Prem Katha)

· Best Art Direction
Sharmishta Roy (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)

· Best Cinematography
Santosh Sivan (Asoka)

· Best Editing
Sreekar Prasad (Dil Chahta Hai)

· Best Sound Recording
Rakesh Ranjan (Aks)

· Best Background Score
Ranjit Barot (Aks)

· Best Scene of the Year
Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham

· Best Male Debutant
Tusshar Kapoor

· Best Female Debutant
Bipasha Basu

· Best Choreography
Farah Khan (Dil Chahta Hai)

· Best Movie Critics
Dil Chahta Hai

· Best Actor Critics
Amitabh Bachchan (Aks)

· Best Actress Critics
Karisma Kapoor (Zubeidaa)

 

WRITTEN BY ROBEEL HAQ