| MAA'S NIGHT OUT: Mona Singh with her mother | Awards signal both accolades and brickbats. The Indian Telly Awards 2005, organised by indiantelevision.com on Sunday, was low on starry turnout, with quite a few eyebrows raised at certain winners.
Apart from the usual naach-gaana routine, which you will see on Sony when it telecasts the event, here's a dekko from the sidelines… Ekta and her lockets
When Ekta Kapoor walked in, we wondered what on earth was she holding on to. Tightly clasped in her hand were a bunch of coloured threads and lockets. Was the Balaji czarina wearing spirituality on her palm now? Not exactly.
| KALI GETS GROOVING: Rucha Gujrathi did a Kajra Re | We checked; the reason behind this was a slight skin allergy on Ekta's neck. Obviously, she could not wear the chains around her neck, nor could she leave home without them — especially for an awards function. What better way than carry it along and keep people wondering what's in your palm? Car seva
Post the ceremony, as we made our way out through the crowd and gawkers, we spotted Karan Oberoi (Jassi's Raghu) stomping up and down the road. We did not have to wonder why.
Just a few steps away was Mona Singh, with her parents. Obviously, they were waiting for their car, and Karan was trying to help locate the driver. In between, he even posed with passersby who wanted keepsake snapshots with Jassi and her parents. A complete family album, eh? | DOESN'T LOOK SO MEAN HERE: Tassnim Sheikh did a Tumhari Adaaon Pe | Total support
Telly couple Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan entered the venue just in time, before their names were announced for their awards. While Hiten bagged the Best Male Supporting Actor award, Gauri won for Best Female Supporting Actor.
Supporting on-screen, off-screen as well at the awards — what is called complete support. | CAN'T LEAVE HOME WITHOUT THEM: Ekta holds her lockets | | Sister act
When Juhi Parmar's name was announced as Best Actress (Critical Category), everyone wondered why she looked a tad different in a red dress. Turned out it was Juhi's sister who was going up the dais to collect the award — the actress was in The Maldives.
Has the acting bug bitten the sister too? And to give away this award was Narayani Shastri! If this does not ring a bell, we will make it resonate — the two actresses share common feelings for a certain Anuj Saxena! | HAVE YOU SEEN JASSI? Karan Oberoi and Shveta Salve | Watch out for this
Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki. This SaharaOne soap from the Rajshris may not be top of the popularity charts, but was awarded a Special Commendation prize as the soap to watch out for in the days to come.
Sooraj Barjatya's sister Kavita, the brain behind the show, was ecstatic and made the entire technical crew come up on the dais to share the honour. | THINK PINK: Pallavi Kulkarni and Riva Bubber | Missing in action
Tulsi, Mihir, Parvati, Anurag, Prerna, Nikki, Abhimanyu…. The starry firmament was not exactly sparkling sans the big stars of the small screen. Only Poojas
No film stars were present except for the two Poojas —— Pooja Bedi and Pooja Batra. The former's presence is justifiable – she anchors a telly show. But what was Batra doing there? Unless she is looking at the small screen as an option. | UNIQUE JODI: Abhijeet Sawant and Sunil Pal | For keeps?
Kamalika Guha Thakurta gave away the Best Production House award to Balaji Telefilms and there was no one to receive the award. No one came up on the stage to collect it either.
Finally, she announced that she herself would keep it and pass it on — which she did, as soon as Ekta arrived. shaheen@mid-day.com |