In a last minute twist to the tale, almost like a script written for Bollywood, superstar Aamir Khan failed to show up at the Government of India's prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards in Mumbai last night.
The actor, who notoriously shies away from shows and declines awards himself, reportedly agreed to attend this function only because it commemorated 100 years of Indian cinema. And, his role would be to unveil a wax statue of Dadasaheb Phalke, who directed India's first full-length feature Raja Harishchandra in 1913.
An organizer said they had written confirmation that Aamir would be present for the function, but he would stay for just half an hour, and they had planned to seat him next to Bollywood veterans Amitabh Bachchan and Vinod Khanna. After which, most controversially there was no show by Aamir.
According to sources, Aamir was very much in Mumbai last night, and busy promoting his ambitious television show Satyameva Jayate which will hit the small screens on Sunday. The actor is on a promotion overdrive, not missing out on any opportunity to speak about the show, and that is reportedly what he was supposedly doing – giving media interviews while other worthies of Bollywood waited in vain for him at the Dadasaheb Phalke Awards last night. The organizers of function repeatedly tried to reach the superstar, but Aamir is said to have not even reverted. And so it was left to Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar, Saira Banu and Subhash Ghai to make the most of the occasion.
The Big B unveiled the statue of Dadasaheb Phalke. He was also honored with Phalke Ratna Award. Also present were Kajol and sister Tanishaa, who received awards on behalf of Ajay Devgn and their mother – yesteryear actress Tanuja, for Outstanding Performance (Singham) and Legendary Actress respectively. Ajay was out of state for shooting commitments and Tanuja was nursing a fractured arm.
Rohit Shetty bagged The Best Classical and Commercial Director Award and Ekta Kapoor got the Phalke Icon Producer Award - Film & Television. Raveena Tandon, who was present with husband Anil Thandani and father-in-law Kundan Thandani, was pleased when Kundan was honored for his contributions in Indian cinema.
Meanwhile, joining Aamir's dubious ranks were several film and television personalities including Farhan Akhtar, Ram Kapoor, Saakshi Tanwar and Parineeti Chopra. Vinod Khanna and Vidya Balan however, were away to receive National Awards and Waheeda Rehman being a resident of Bengaluru could not make it due to illness.
Ye Hai Mohabbatein
Mangal Lakshmi
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