Awards roll call

1994 to 2005

Twelve years ago at a prestigious meeting called by the Chairman of Indian Express Group, Vivek Goenka and attended by all the bigwigs of film fraternity, an idea was born. To institute jury based awards which would be a complete contrast from the existing popular and critics awards. The jury would comprise different departments of filmmaking and determine excellence in Hindi cinema. The film industry was enthusiastic and promised complete support. An advisory panel was formed and the ground rules for the selection of the winners defined. Top filmmakers and leading actors voluntarily participated in the process. Panasonic was the first sponsor and the brain behind the event, a woman. So when the trophy was designed, it was natural that she opted for a female form.

The premier award night was held at Helipad, Film City. It was a unique venue, a promising start to an event that would define credibility. It was a glorious event. Understated but reflective of integrity quite like the profile of the paper.

Came the second year and Screen turned more adventurous. We had a new sponsor, Videocon and a new event head, Alyque Padamsee. The theme of the show was Aircraft. The venue, The Flying Club, Juhu and the compere Tom Alter dressed in the Pilot's uniform. This was the year Hollywood star, Steven Seagal graced the occasion and a live helicopter dropped confetti from atop.

The third year event was conceived by Anupam Kher's budding company at that time. Directed by wife Kiron Kher, theatre, television and film personality, the theme was decades. Superstars representing the era walked down the isle as memorable songs of films they represented played in the background. So simple yet so effective. The fourth year, the theme was laughter. The man behind the show, a comedian, Satish Kaushik. He chose the concept because he felt laughter was the most neglected factor of Hindi films. Videocon continued to be our sponsors for five successive years. And Andheri Sports Complex, our permanent venue for six years. Our audience was more than satisfied with our performance, our quest for perfection made us spread our wings. Our seventh year falling at the turn of the millennium brought euphoric changes. We hired the best in showbiz, Cineyug, to design our show. The eighth year award show proved a milestone event in more than one way. We get the highest TRP ratings and even won a trophy for the Best Tele Event of the year from Indian Television Academy. In the Ninth Annual show, the then Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Sushma Swaraj, who was instrumental in granting 'industry status' to the film industry, lit the traditional lamp and recited a couplet. A new category 'The Diaspora Awards' was also introduced this year. The tenth year show had Hrithik recreating the magic of Koi..Mil Gaya with an alien brigade. Mumtaz came out of self-imposed exile to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh-Hema were voted the Jodi No. 1. The eleventh year show garnered the highest TRPs among all the entertainment events on television. Shah Rukh who had bagged the Jodi No.1 award with Aishwarya and Kajol earlier wins it this time with Preity Zinta.

In keeping with the indomitable spirit of amchi Mumbai and in the wake of Bollywood turning up a good performance in 2005 we are weaving the show around the theme of Mumbai...