Article: Rajeev won

T he first ever Indian TV award show to be organised outside India was held on last Saturday. The Gold Awards, like any other, had its highs and lows. Predictables Zee was the channel sponsor. Most of the winners and the maximum nominees were Zee's. Zee picked up the awards for Best Hindi Movie Channel and the Best Hindi Enter- tainment Channel. It also received awards for Best Director-Fiction (Sapna Joshi, Teen Bahuraniyan), Best Show-Fiction (Saat Phere) and Best Reality Show (Sa Re Ga Ma Pa). Even the Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contribution to the TV industry went to Zee's Subhash Chandra. Definitely unpredictable CID won the award for the longest running show (11 years). Now, who said it was Kyun- ki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi - with its 600- year-old ba and its hundredth generation leap - that was the longest? Another difference was the order in which the awards were presented. Unlike other ceremonies where male actors are awarded after their female counterparts, here it was the reverse. The ceremony emphasised the impor- tance of female characters in tellydom. It came as no surprise that the best actress award was the biggest one of the evening. So, Rajeshwari Vaidya (Best Actress) is a bigger star than Rajeev Khandelwal (Best Actor)?Okay. Point noted. Show stealers Amitabh Bachchan was not present but his songs played throughout. Gaurav Kapoor and Chetan Hansraj's tribute to the Big B was the show stealer. From Khaike paan Banaras wala to My name is Anthony Gonzalves to Jumma chumma de de, his songs set the mood for the evening. Even Bappi da (Lahiri) wasn't far behind. His cameo, even if towards the end of the show and a bit late, was pretty enter- taining. Bloopers The worst that could happen to a performer on stage, happened to Karishma Tanna when she was left stranded. There was a power failure in her first act. Tanna's per- formance was abruptly halted halfway through the song. She had to do it all over again. Later she was spotted dancing with Bap- pi da. Very shy, they refused to be photographed. Narayani Shastri's performance was one of the better ones. Except she kept fidg- eting with her off-shoulder dress, constant- ly trying to hitch it up. Besides the hosts for the evening - Mandira Bedi and Aman Verma - there were quite a few who tried to draw some laughs while handing over an award. Bapp- ida was his usual gregarious self and a refreshing change from all who tried to please the Mauritians by speaking miser- able French. Getting speechy Most of the winning speeches were typical. The evening was all about saying thank you in different ways and to different people. Deven Bhojani, however, had something different to offer. He won the award for the Best Actor in a Comic Role and justified his win with a wry, "Thank you God for making me talented." Bhojani even went on to mock the con- spicuous absence of the Balaji camp. He said, "It is so nice to come to an award show where people are not saying 'Thank you Ekta or thank you Balaji'." The audience was in splits. Mukesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri were pres- ent. There was a tribute to Vishesh Films. They announced that the company would be entering the television business shortly. And the winners were.. Best Child Actor Rajat Tokas (Prithiviraj Chauhan) Best Reality Show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Best Director Sapna Joshi (Teen Bahuraniyan) and Rajeev Mehra (Naya Office Office) Youth Channel MTV News Channel NDTV Lifetime Achievement Subhash Chandra Sachi Prakritik Sundarta Divyanka Tripathi Debut (male) Sharad Malhotra (Banoo..) Debut (female) Divyanka Tripathi (Banoo..) Supporting Actor (male) Rajesh Khera (LRL) Supporting Actor (female) Vaishali Thakkar (Baa Bahu aur Baby) Comic Role (male) Deven Bhojani(Baa Bahu aur Baby) Comic Role (female) Suchita Trivedi (Baa Bahu aur Baby) Comedy Series Naya Office Office Negative (male) Mohnish Behl (Ek Ladki..) Negative (female) Kaamya Punjabi (Banoo..) Best Anchor Hussain (Shabaash India) Best Actor (male) Rajeev Khandelwal Best Actor (female) Rajeshwari Vaidya