When Cupid struck

Rekha gave us eight minutes of pure magic... Salman Khan kept the guests in splits... Ajay Devgan and Kajol walked away, hand-in-hand, cradling twin statuettes In 1999, the Screen Awards became bigger, exciting and more eye-catching. And Bruce Davis, Executive Director, and Richard Edlind (a winner of four Oscars and a six-time nominee), Governor of the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, Hollywood, which awards the Oscars, who had been invited as special jury members felt "right at home" as Mamta Kulkarni took centrestage to the tunes of 'Bharo, maang meri bharo...' (Sabse Bada Khiladi) and 'Maara re...' (Ghatak). Rageshwari's bouncy numbers kept the audience pepped up and Manoj Bajpai added to the kilocalories with 'Sapne mein milti hai...' (Satya). Shilpa Shetty set the stage on fire with her Mr Romeo rocker, 'Paas aaja baalam re...' and Rani Mukerji was grace personified as she relived the magic of her debut film, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai with its popular hit, 'Koi mil gaya...'. She was joined by Govinda who proposed that in the absence of Aamir Khan she let him woo her off to Khandala. Raja Babu also performed to his own song 'Kar ditti jaan...', penned by his sister. Salman Khan along with brother Arbaaz kept the assembled guests in splits with a rare display of comic wit while Rekha gave us eight minutes of pure magic as she recited three of the most romantic songs written by Gulzar and picturised on her including the wonderfully evocative 'Kab aaoge...'. She was (love)ly! The theme of the evening incidentally was Ishq, pyar, mohabbat. Love was in the air as Ajay Devgan (Best Actor, Zakhm) walked away hand-in-hand with his bespectacled biwi Kajol (Best Actress, Dushman), both lovingly cradling their twin statuettes.

After being nominated more than 25 times and penning over 6,000 songs, Anand Bakshi received his first award for 'Gali me chand nikla...', the soul-stirring number from Zakhm. Zakhm bagged four other awards - Best Actor (Ajay Devgan), Best Story (Mahesh Bhatt), Best Child Artiste (Kunal Khemu) and Best Dialogue (Girish Dhamija).

Karan Johar was voted Best Director and his debut film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai that was also the Best Film of the year. It also picked up trophies for Jatin-Lalit (Best Music) and Archana Puran Singh (Best Performance in a Comic Role).

Rekha later had Sunil Dutt in tears when she presented him with his Lifetime Achievement award. He fondly remembered his mother and wife Nargis on the occasion. Spoke lovingly of his two daughters Priya and Namrata. Smiled over his wonderful granddaughters. And rued that Sanjay could not be with him in his special hour. Sony Entertainment topped the list of television awards with Best Thriller (Aahat), Best Performance/Male (Govind Namdeo for Mahayagya), Best Anchor (Archana Puran Singh for Uncensored) and Best Investigative Programme (Bhanwar). Saans bagged Neena Gupta a grand double with awards for Best Actress (Television) and Best Drama Series. And Prannoy Roy was honoured with a Critics Award for setting new standards in news programming.

In the Music Section MagnaSound won the maximum awards, three— Best Pop Artiste/Male (Sonu Nigam), Best Pop Artiste/Female (Shweta Shetty) and Best Pop Album (Daler Mahendi's 'Tunak Tunak...').