©2004
Fann Wong Singapore
| 2004 |
Bollywood boogie The razzle! The dazzle! The eye-popping spectacle! Bollywood sorcerers and sirens cast a spell on Singapore. SHERWIN LOH reports IT WAS the perfect mother-and-son moment. When actor Abhishek Bachchan went on stage to present the Best Supporting Actress award, a collective buzz of excitement could be heard among the 6,300-strong audience at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last Saturday night. His mother, Jaya Bachchan, 56, was one of the five nominated in that category at the fifth International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony. When images from her movie, Kal Ho Naa Ho, a romantic melodrama, flashed on screen, Abhishek, 28, clutched the envelope in anticipation and had a tense look on his face. The crowd worked up a cheering frenzy as he opened the envelope and screamed out: 'Yay Ma!' at his mother. She was seated in the front row with her husband, Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, 62. She walked carefully up on stage and was close to tears as mother and son shared a hug that brought more applause from the audience. The crowd, which was made up of mostly Indian Singaporeans and Indian nationals, also included President S R Nathan, Minister for Trade and Industry George Yeo and Minister of State for Trade and Industry Vivian Balakrishnan. 'It's wonderful being awarded by your own children,' the actress said in English, clutching her award. As if on cue, her son stepped up behind her, whipped out a camera, pointed to the audience and said, 'Smile Singapore', as he snapped a picture of the audience to yet another round of applause. And smile the crowd did throughout the 4 1/2-hour ceremony that started at 7.30pm, an hour behind schedule. The stars had taken longer than expected at the red carpet upon their arrival. Gracing the event were the A-list stars of Bollywood like Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor. Held at international venues like London and Sun City in South Africa since its inception in 2000, the IIFA awards celebrates the best that Indian cinema has to offer, which happens to be Kal Ho Naa Ho this year. The film, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan, took home eight of the 13 awards presented, including Best Actress for Zinta and Best Supporting Actor for Saif Ali Khan. It also won six of the 14 technical prizes presented earlier this year, including Background Score and Cinematography. Aside from the awards listed in the programme, other awards, like for Diva and Best New Face, were also given out (see other story) But clearly, it was an evening when the accolades took second billing to the stars in attendance. At the red carpet outside the stadium, fans had been waiting since 4pm. More than 500 of them cheered when the first celebrities - Singapore's Fann Wong, Edmund Chen and Gurmit Singh - showed up at 6.20pm. The award winners downplayed their triumphs, choosing instead to thank Singapore for being an excellent host and gushing about how beautiful the Republic is.
One highlight was a 10-minute montage helmed by Oberoi, who paid homage to Amitabh Bachchan. The crowd clapped and sang along with the charming 27-year-old as he danced to songs taken from a selection of Bachchan's old movies. Ambika Bajaj, 18, a student who went with eight friends, said: 'I think he did a good job. But all of the performances were tributes. I wished that more stars could have performed songs from their own movies.' There were also tributes to actor Shammi Kapoor, black-and-white movie siren Madhubala and dancer Helen. Whenever there was a lull during the awards presentations, the audience kept their eyes on two large projection screens beside the stage. Whenever the camera zoomed in on the stars and their glamorous images flashed on the screens, the crowd erupted in screams, disrupting the show several times. Crowd favourite Hrithik Roshan was shown on the screens at least a dozen times, much to the delight of the audience, who were mainly in their 20s and 30s and dressed in their best Punjabi suits and saris. And when Bollywood hunk Sanjay Dutt was spotted running backstage to prepare for his appearance, they went wild and shouted his name. Singapore also had its moment during the ceremony when 50 performers, led by singer Wendi Koh, staged a 10-minute opening dance number featuring a variety of local tunes like Di Tanjong Katong and Singapura. President Nathan shared the stage with Shah Rukh Kahn to present the Outstanding Achievement In Indian Cinema award to actor Dilip Kumar. The show, broadcast live to more than 400 million viewers worldwide, was sponsored by the Singapore Tourism Board. It hopes to use IIFA as a platform to woo tourists and production companies. Like the MTV Asia awards in February, the event will go a long way in proving that Singapore can put on a good show. The crowd went home happy, too. Human resource executive Shahrina Giles, 34, who was there with her mother, said: 'I feel very proud being Singaporean. Overall, this is a stepping stone for us to be involved with the Indian film-making community.' Source: The Straits Times |
