Filmfare Awards

It was a sepia-tinged return to the time when the Filmfare awards ceremony was a closed-door affair exclusively for the film industry. After decades of open-air events, replete with colour, crowds and boisterous gaiety, Bollywood's most sought-after film awards slipped back into their pre-'90s avatar albeit with Oscar-style nominations -- at a formal function at Mumbai's plush Yashraj Studio. The fun and excitement quotient, of course, remained the same.

The evening belonged indisputably to three films, which divided the honours between them: Rang De Basanti , Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's post-modern take on pre-independence revolutionaries, Omkara , Vishal Bhardwaj's dark and hard-hitting adaptation of Othello and Lage Raho Munnabhai , Raj Kumar Hirani's endearing look at Mahatma Gandhi through a gangster's eyes. While RDB swept up five of the main awards (Best Film, Best Director, Best Music, Best Cinematography and Best Editing) as well as Best Actor (Critics) for Aamir Khan and the R D Burman award, Omkara 's tally was a staggering eight and Lage Raho Munnabhai 's five.

The Best Actor and Best Actress awards went to Hrithik Roshan for Dhoom 2 and Kajol for Fanaa .

Through the evening MC Shah Rukh Khan, joined in different segments by Juhi Chawla, Lara Dutta and Preity Zinta, kept the audience in splits with his one-liners and deadpan asides. Samples: "My resolution this year: Main Bachchan saab ki koi bhi film nahin karoonga ." SRK brought the house down, reminding viewers of the laugh-riot he had created with co-host Saif Ali Khan at the Filmfare awards function a few years ago. This year, Saif's sudden illness came in the way of his partnering SRK. Said SRK, "The only thing I miss is my friend Saif. He's a bit laid oops, a bit laid up this year."

In between the chuckles, a measure of sobriety and nostalgia, an audio-visual remembered all those who passed away in 2006, including Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Naushad, O P Nayyar, Kamleshwar and Padmini.

The 20th death anniversary of the late Smita Patil comes up this May, and Filmfare tributed the actress with a special audio-visual and a speech by Shabana Azmi. A heart-warming touch: Smita's son Prateek, who was a few days old when his mother died and Smita's sister were presented with a collage of the actress' photographs, created by Filmfare and signed and messaged by Smita's colleagues. Said Shabana of the talented actress whose smouldering presence and brilliant acting lit up art and commercial films alike, ``She was like my soul sister.''

Another highlight: A R Rehman's performance of his composition from Lord Of The Rings . The Filmfare audience was treated to a song from the epic musical adaptation of the Tolkien classic which premiered at Canada last year and will play in London's West End this June. Closer home, Rehman performed Khalbali from Rang De Basanti and a song from Guru to much applause from the audience. Interestingly, the musical genius, who's been nominated for the Oscars for a song in Water, chose to perform at the Filmfare function rather than attend the Academy Awards.

This year's lifetime achievement awards went to Javed Akhtar and Jaya Bachchan. While Akhtar's award was presented to him by Yash Chopra and Ramesh Sippy, the two directors who'd filmed Salim-Javed's best scripts, Jaya's trophy was handed to her by her husband.

Another family moment occurred when Aishwarya Rai presented fiancé Abhishek Bachchan with the Best Supporting Actor for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna : “That looked planned,'' quipped Abhishek when she presented him with the award. ``I thank my family,'' he said and looked at Aishwarya and added jokingly, almost as an afterthought, ``You too,'' which prompted Shah Rukh to say when Abhishek left the stage, ``Hopefully next year you will thank your wife too.''

Making her first public appearance after the Celebrity Big Brother brouhaha was Shilpa Shetty. Said Karan Johar, ``This year at Heathrow, when people smiled at me, I thought my films were really doing well globally. Then I realized it was because I came from the land of Shilpa Shetty.''