LONDON: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards, popularly known as the ‘BAFTAs’ was a spectacular red-carpet, black-tie formal affair, with the best of Hollywood and the British film industry getting together to celebrate their achievements.
We were floored by the Hollywood stars’ sartorial choices on the red carpet, with the rain playing no dampener to the enthusiasm and grit of the A-listers. Bradley Cooper, Joaquin Phoenix, Javier Bardem, Hugh Jackman, Ben Affleck, and George Clooney were the men who made us gasp, in their sharp black tuxedos and trendy overcoats. Anne Hathaway, Sally Field, Marion Cotillard (in a stand-out yellow number, we must add!), Helen Mirren, Sarah Jessica Parker and many other Hollywood ladies had us green with envy at their gorgeous ensembles. A special mention must be made for Helena Bonham-Carter’s eclectic quirky style, which we approved of this time.
India’s very own Suraj Sharma just missed receiving the ‘Bafta Rising Star Award’ by a whisker. Suraj said, “It was my brother who went for the audition. I just went along with him and got lucky by getting the role.” The ‘Life of Pi’ star surprised us by saying he was unsure if he’d continue with acting: “I like acting but I don’t know if I can act. It all depends upon what comes my way.”
Ben Affleck’s ‘Argo’ was the top winner at the BAFTA awards, winning ‘Best Film’, ‘Best Director’, ‘Best Editing’ and the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for Christoph Waltz. Clooney praised Affleck endlessly in his acceptance speech for best film, when he said, “You are remarkable at what you do. You’re smart and you know what you want but more importantly you love what you’re doing.”
Steven Spielberg’s period drama ‘Lincoln’ surprisingly didn’t win big, sweeping only the best actor nod for Daniel Day Lewis. The film was nominated in a whopping 10 categories, but came away with only one award. Method actor Daniel-Day Lewis alluded to his skills when he accepted the award by saying: “Just on the chance that I might one day have to speak on an evening such as this, I’ve actually stayed in character as myself for the last 55 years. Every time I rise from a chair it spontaneously unleashes a soundtrack of thunderous applause, with a few boos and some drunken hecklers,” he proclaimed, amidst peals of laughter from the audience at the Royal Opera House.
Other winners included the lovely Anne Hathaway, who won the best supporting actress for ‘Les Miserables’ while 85 year-old Emmanuelle Riva won the best actress award for ‘Amour’.
