Screen Awards: Udaan takes off,Chulbul Pandey sweeps

If this edition of the Star Screen Awards proved anything,it’s that the Indian audience has matured enough to accept good cinema,regardless of the budget or star cast.

Sharing space with biggies such as Dabangg,Raajneeti,Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai and My Name is Khan,were smaller films like Udaan,Peepli [Live,Ishqiya,Phas Gaye Re Obama and Band Baaja Baaraat. As jury chairman Amol Palekar said,“This is an occasion to congratulate the new talents on finding such confident voices. So-called boutique cinema has found audience patronage and it was truly a privilege to be able to select our nominations from such an eclectic mix of movies from different genres.”

The big winner of the evening was Dabangg,which bagged a total six Awards. Salman Khan,who won Best Actor – Male for his portrayal of a swashbuckling cop,proved that offbeat cinema cannot nudge out larger-than-life masala movies. Dabangg also won its leading lady Sonakshi Sinha the Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Female. Dabangg’s other Awards included Best Action and Best Choreography for the rollicking Munni Badnaam Hui.

Vidya Balan,who is proving to be a consummate performer and bankable star,won Best Actor – Female for the second year running for her stunning portrayal of a scheming widow in Ishqiya. Her co-star Arshad Warsi won Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male,while Gulzar won Best Lyrics for the film’s popular Ibn-e-Batuta number.

Ronit Roy won Best Actor in a Negative Role,another achievement for Udaan. An emotional Roy dedicated the Award to “being written off as an actor and to being resurrected as an actor”.

Most of Bollywood turned up for the show,in the audience and on stage. Katrina Kaif grooved to Sheila ki Jawani,spiced up with a few new belly-dancing moves. Priyanka Chopra and Bipasha Basu sizzled on stage.

Shah Rukh Khan returned as anchor along with Shahid Kapoor,repeating their act of mentor and acolyte,with SRK ribbing Shahid over his ‘relationship’ with Priyanka. The pair’s banter was one of the most entertaining parts of the evening,along with a celebration of yesteryear heroines Asha Parekh,Zeenat Aman,Hema Malini and Rekha.

Adding youthful energy to the celebrations were fresh couple of the year,Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh,who also gave a star turn as hosts. They brought to life their palpable chemistry from Band Baaja Baaraat to the stage. It was an especially memorable evening for debutant Singh,who picked up the Most Promising Newcomer – Male award.

In a year of memorable music,there were two winners each for both Best Music and Best Playback Singer – Female. Sajid-Wajid (Dabangg) and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (My Name is Khan) shared the Best Music Award,while Shreya Ghoshal shared her Best Playback Singer – Female award for Bahara from I Hate Luv Storys with Mamta Sharma for Dabangg’s Munni Badnaam Hui.

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan won Best Playback Singer – Male for Dil toh bachcha hai ji.

Awards in the Marathi film section too were in keeping with the spirit of innovation. Best Film went to Mee Sindhutai Sapkal,the first biopic made in India on a living person. Umesh Kulkarni picked up the Best Director Award for Vihir.

Siddharth Jadhav (Huppa Huiyya) and Nandu Madhav (Harishchandrachi Factory) shared the Best Actor Award. Rajeshwari Sachdev won Best Actress for Aarambh.

The Ramnath Goenka Award went to My Name is Khan. The film also won leading man Shah Rukh Khan the Best Actor – Male in the popular category. In the same category,Katrina Kaif picked up Best Actor – Female.