MUMBAI: The Stardust Awards 2009 was held on Sunday, 15 February, 2009 in Mumbai. The who’s who of the industry was present at these awards. Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan with Amar Singh, Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna, Rekha, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, Ashutosh and Sunita Gowariker, Farhan Akhtar, Boney and Sridevi Kapoor, Kangana Ranaut and Adhyayan Suman, Amrita Rao, Asin, Neha Dhupia, Koena Mitra, Abbas-Mustan, Anu Malik, Genelia D’Souza and many more graced the red carpet.
The award ceremony was like none other in recent times. In fact Amitabh Bachchan has echoed this in his blog where he says that MAX Stardust Awards have always rewarded areas that have been either ignored or not brought up for consideration, and that is what is different about them in comparison with some of the other ceremonies.
The hosts of the evening were Minnisha Lamba and Tusshar Kapoor. Fresh from the success of ‘Golmaal Returns’, Tusshar kept the audience enthralled .
The highlight of the evening was Anil Kapoor’s performance on stage.For the first time in seven years he danced to the tracks of some of his most popular numbers from Woh Saat Din to Ram Lakhan and many more. He ended the medley with a performance on the signature song ‘Jai Ho’ from the acclaimed ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ saluting the spirit and success of Bollywood.
While accepting the special award bestowed upon him for taking Indian cinema global and completing 30 years in Hindi cinema, Anil Kapoor remarked, “This is my Oscar!”
Some of the other award winners in the different categories were :
Superstar of Tomorrow – Male: Farhan Akhtar (Rock On)
Superstar of Tomorrow – Female: Asin (Ghajini)
Hottest New Filmmaker: A R Murugadoss (Ghajini)
Hottest New Film: Ghajini
Breakthrough Performance – Male: Prateik Babbar (Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na)
Breakthrough Performance – Female: Manjari Phadnis (Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na)
Standout Performance by a music director: Dhruv Ghanekar (Drona)
Standout Performance by a Lyricist: Kausar Munir (Falak Tak Chal / Tashan)
New Musical Sensation – Male: Benny Dayal (Pappu can’t dance saala / Jaane Tu…Ya Jaane Na)
New Musical Sensation – Female: Anmol Malik (Talli / Ugly Aur Pagli)
Exciting New Face: Shriya Saran (Mission Istanbul)
The New Menace: Nikitin Dheer (Jodhaa Akbar)
Editor’s choice award for most promising director: Abhishek Kapoor (Rock On)
STARDUST SEARCHLIGHT AWARDS WINNERS:
Best Actor: Amitabh Bachchan (The Last Lear)
Best Actress: Amrita Rao (Welcome To Sajjanpur)
Best Film: A Wednesday (Anjum Rizvi)
Best Director: Neeraj Pandey (A Wednesday)
READER’S CHOICE AWARDS:
Star of the year – Male: Hrithik Roshan (Jodhaa Akbar)
Star of the year – Female: Priyanka Chopra (Fashion)
Dream Director: Ashutosh Gowariker (Jodhaa Akbar)
Best Film: Singh Is Kinng (Akshay Kumar and Vipul Shah)
Best actor in a supporting role: Tusshar Kapoor (Golmaal Returns)
Best Actress in a supporting role: Kangana Ranaut (Fashion)
Best Actor in a negative role: Anil Kapoor (Tashan)
Style Icon of the year – Male: Saif Ali Khan
Style Icon of the year – Female: Kareena Kapoor
Dev Anand and Feroz Khan were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Awards, Anand spoke about how he was still going strong and looking forward to his new movie releasing later this year! Fardeen Khan accepted the award on his father’s behalf as the ailing senior Khan could not be present.
Besides the awards and accolades, the award ceremony had a medley of entertainment, which included performances from Lamba and Neetu Chandra, Amisha Patel, Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan who brought the grand event to its close.
The Stardust Awards will be telecast on MAX on 28 February, 2009 at 8 pm.
