Chak De India wins Indian Oscar
500 Bollywood stars walk the ‘green’ carpet in Bangkok
Shah Rukh Khan is still the King of Indian cinema. His film, Chak De India, which explores themes of religion and class on a sports team, took top honours at the Bollywood Oscars in Bangkok on Sunday as it took the coveted Best Picture Award.
The movie tells the story of a Muslim captain of the Indian field hockey team who leaves the game after being wrongly accused of throwing a World Cup match against Pakistan. After disappearing for seven years, he returns to coach the Indian women's team, leading them to a World Cup victory of their own.
The script won screenwriter Jaideep Sahni an award for best story, while Shimit Amin took best director and star Shah Rukh Khan best actor.
Kareena Kapoor scooped the best actress honour for her role as a lively college student in Jab We Met. Irrfan Khan and Konkona Sen Sharma won for supporting roles in Life in a... Metro, a series of intersecting stories that all take place in the Mumbai Metro.
But some of India’s biggest stars shut out, including members of the Bachchan clan, long considered Bollywood royalty, the AFP reported.
Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (Bride and Prejudice, The Mistress of Spices), and her husband Abhishek Bachchan were not recognized for their lead roles in Guru, which tells the rags-to-riches story of an Indian business tycoon.
But another hot celebrity couple, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone, received nods as best new actors for their respective parts in Saawariya and Om Shanti Om.
Padukone's film Om Shanti Om, about a murder that is solved after the victim is reincarnated, swept most of the technical awards earlier in the show.
"This is an awards function that I have been watching on television with my parents. It's big to be here and be part of it," Padukone said.
Show-stopping dance numbers punctuated the ceremony.
Dia Mirza donned a black halter top for a racy performance to promote her upcoming action thriller Acid Factory, only to be stopped by a technical glitch that cut out the music and forced her to start again.
The stars of thriller Mission Istaanbul, about a terrorist plot at a Turkish TV station, shined in silver with Shriya Saran in a glitter top and a hip hop-styled Vivek Oberoi in a white plastic jacket.
Akshay Kumar flew on to the stage from the back of the hall on a skateboard, gliding along a wire, while turbaned dancers walked down the isles singing.
Kumar, who received a special achievement award, told the audience that he had once waited tables in the host city, Bangkok, before setting out to become a movie star.
“I was just a young man when my adventure began here. I was naive, restless and eager to please. This city embraced me with such love and kindness,” he said.
Hundreds of fans greeted their favourite stars as they paraded into the posh downtown Bangkok theatre.
At least 500 of Bollywood's biggest names walked down a carpet, which was changed from red to green in a nod to the environmental themes the event is working to promote.
The Indian film industry was valued at 2.2 billion dollars last year, just a fraction of what Hollywood earns in a year. But that's expected to nearly double by 2012, with overseas ticket sales playing a key role
