That’s what last night’s (53rd) Filmfare awards telecast on Sony was. It was also of course glamorous, sexy and entertaining. But that’s the least you expect. What you don’t expect is for humour to be delivered with so much élan that it permeates everybody, putting them in touch with their liberal, tolerant selves.
Between Saif Ali Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, the hosts for the evening and two of the most sophisticated stars in the film industry, nothing remained sacred.
So there was a blue ballad to Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya;
Saif Ali Khan was ribbed about his tattoo screaming his new love for Kareena;
Karan Johar acknowledged that women were safe from him;
Akshay Kumar was challenged to live up to his new hit machine status in real life;
And some provocative Hinglish that left no one in any doubt of how film critics are viewed, was spouted.
With this as the backdrop it was hardly surprising that a female star took openness to a new level, and with love and pride, acknowledged both her ex and current boyfriends. The film industry’s biggest star thanked Allah, God and his director and writer, for letting him prove he could act. And an actor who boycotts awards and didn’t allow his film clips to be used, won for best director.
The evening drove home a point - if mainstream cinema’s main job is to entertain, last night entertainers showed that their job is to keep pushing the envelope. To stretch the boundaries of what’s acceptable, of what can be said. And done.
