'Lage Raho..' wins top honours in New Yor

'Lage Raho Munnabhai' wins top honours in New York
28th May 2007 09.01 IST
By Agencies

Bollywood blockbuster with Gandhian message of non-violence Lage Raho Munnabhai won top honours at the ninth annual Bollywood Awards in New York, showing its immense popularity among the non-residents Indians who voted it the best movie and its director Rajkumar Hirani the best director.

Bipasha Basu , who is very popular with the young crowd in the United States, was chosen the best actress for her role in Corporate and Hrithik Roshan adjudged best actor for his performance in Dhoom 2 .

For the award for best movie, 'Lage Raho Munnabhai', produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra , beat 'Dhoom 2', Omkara , Rang De Basanti and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna which too were nominated in that category.

Its director Hirani won over Rakesh Roshan ( Krrish ), Karan Johar ('Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna'), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra ('Rang De Basanti') and Vishal Bharadwaj ('Omkara') to claim the award.

Bipasha prevailed over Aishwarya Rai ('Dhoom 2'), Kajol ( Fanaa ), Kareena Kapoor ('Omkara') and Rani Mukherjee ('Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna').

Besides Hrithik, others nominated in the best actor category were Aamir Khan , Ajay Devgan , Sanjay Dutt and Shah Rukh Khan .

But 'Rang De Basanti' won the award for Best Supporting actress with Kiron Kher winning over Konkona Sen Sharma , Preity Zinta , Soha Ali Khan and Amisha Patel .

For Best actor in supporting role, the award went to Vivek Oberoi for his role in 'Omkara'. Also nominated in this category were Abhishek Bachchan , Arshad Warsi , Kunal Kapoor and John Abraham .

During the scintillating performance given by Oberoi shortly after receiving the award, many youngsters in the audience clapped and danced with him, giving anxious moments to the security personnel who had orders not to allow anyone in aisles.

Equally well received was the performance by Bipasha whose 15-minute act won repeated cheers and whistles from the fans.

At the star-studded glittering award presentation ceremony on Friday night, popular star of yesteryears Asha Parekh was honoured with Life Time Achievement Award. Preceding the presentation of award was a dance based on the songs she performed on screen.

Mira Nair , whose movies have won critical acclaim and helped introduce Indian culture to the Western audience, was given 'Pride of India Award.'

Accepting the award, she said she was happy that she came from a country where the people's hearts were "as big as ocean."

Well-known and often controversial American business executive, entrepreneur, television personality and author Donald Trump was given special prize of 'Global Leadership.

CEO of Bollywood Awards Group, Kamal Dandona, personally handed over the award to Trump, praising his expertise and successes in diverse fields.

Noted American actor-director Danny Grover, who played both on stage and screen, was given special award for his achievement in cinematography. He also presented award to Nair.

For Best Actor in a Negative Role, in both male and female categories, the award went to Saif Ali Khan for his role in 'Omkara' and Anupam Kher once again got the award for Best Comedy, this time for his role in Khosla Ka Ghosla .

Alka Yagnik was adjudged the best female playback singer for 'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna' and for best male singer the prize went to Shaan for 'Chand Sifarish' ('Fanaa').

Upen Patel was chosen best male debutant for his role in 36 China Town and Kangana Ranaut best female debutant for her performance in Gangster .

'Rang De Basanti' also won award for best editing and 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' for best dialogue and story.

Before presentation of awards, Dandona said movies are a magnificent medium, which presented an "enduring and loveable" link for Indians abroad to their country.

The growing popularity of Bollywood movies in the United States and other countries showed the "longing" of the Indians abroad for their own culture and Bollywood awards presented an opportunity to them to express their opinions on the films they see and appreciate or criticise.

http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20070528-0.html

I think this award was rigged....I mean whoever showed up would receive awards! I think the only deserving was Lage Raho Munna Bhai awards!

Originally posted by: pyaridilwalino1

I think this award was rigged....I mean whoever showed up would receive awards! I think the only deserving was Lage Raho Munna Bhai awards!

Thats always happens with overseas award shows. They usually give the award to whoever shows up. Well, its not the National or Filmfare awards so no big deal really. Even those awards are considered 'rigged' by many.

congratulations..... 👏 👏