It was entertainment reloaded when two big Bollywood stars – Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai joined other B-town big wigs on the stage at the TOIFA awards night, where “Barfi!” walked away with top honours. Dressed in a long red jacket, Shah Rukh entered the stage amidst loud cheer and applause at the glittering award night Saturday and started his act with a small speech, thanking the city of Vancouver for love and respect. “I love you all people, thanks for all the love and respect that you people have shown for me,” said the 47-year-old in his signature style and wowed everyone. Then began the magic. He danced on his popular tracks, including “Suraj hua maddham”, “Challa ki labh da phire”, “Chamak challo” and many more. With each of his performances, excitement soared high and he had the audience going wild.
The fans got so excited that they lunged towards the stage to join SRK’s high-energy gig. However, the security personals ensured the audience members do not reach the stage. Back home, SRK had injured his left shoulder while shooting for “Chennai Express”, but it didn’t slow him down at all. Before Shah Rukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Aishwarya Rai had enthralled the audiences with their super-charged acts. In fact, this was Aishwarya’s first stage performance abroad after the birth of her daughter in 2011, and she didn’t disappoint. She not only dazzled everyone, her act was one of the highlights at the gala night. Looking gorgeous in a black free-flowing attire, she performed to songs like “Khwaja mere Khawaja” and the title track from “Dhoom 2″.
Priyanka dedicated her act to women power, while Katrina’s “Chikni Chameli” performance set the stage on fire. In a true filmy style, Abhishek made a hero like entry from the middle of the audience and performed bhangra moves and thoroughly entertained his fans, like his wife. Icing on the cake was the last act by choreographer Shaimak Davar, who not only sang songs from “Student Of The Year”, but also invited the entire galaxy of stars on the stage as well as other performers for the closing act. Co-hosts Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Boman Irani, the trio thoroughly entertained audience with their wit and humour. Some of their oneliners sent onlookers into splits. At the first edition of TOIFA awards, the story of a deaf and mute boy, “Barfi!” turned out to be the top winner cornering the best film, best director, best actor and best actress trophies.
Anurag Basu picked up the best director award while Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra carried home the best actor and best actress trophies, respectively, for “Barfi!”. Priyanka came on the stage with her ailing father to collect the trophy. Ranbir Kapoor and Karan Johar assisted her dad Ashoka Chopra to climb the stage. An emotional Priyanka said: “This is a very special moment for me as my dad came all the way flying 30 hours to be with me. Thanks, papa.” Host Boman couldn’t stop himself from complimenting the actress and said: “You are truly a wonderful daughter.” Southern actress Ileana D’Cruz, who stepped into Bollywood with “Barfi!”, won the best debut female award for her performance.
The award for the best debut male went to Ayushmann Khurrana for super-hit “Vicky Donor”, in which he played a sperm donor. Rishi Kapoor won the best actor in a negative role trophy for “Agneepath”. In the critics’ awards category, Gauri Shinde won the best debut director award for telling a heart-warming tale in “English Vinglish”, best actor female critics award went to Deepika Padukone for “Cocktail”; best actor male award was given to Irrfan for playing the steeplechase-runner turning into a dacoit in the ravines of the Chambal in “Paan Singh Tomar”. Anurag Kashyap-directed “Gangs of Wasseypur”, a gritty celluloid saga of the coal mafia and blood-thirsty vengeance, won the critics’ best film award.
