Rekha, Aamir get State honours

Okay, so I did attend this event yesterday that was held in Pune at the sprawling Balewadi Sports Complex.  This was the 46th year of the Marathi film awards, where winners are chosen by the Maharashtra Government. This year’s recipients for the prestigious Raj Kapoor Award were Rekha and Aamir Khan, who were awarded for excellence in cinema by CM Ashok Chauhan.

There was talk of Rekha not being happy with being given the Life Time Achievement Award and there was doubt whether she would be attending the event, but the diva put all speculation to rest and she walked up on stage to receive her award and even spoke a few broken lines in marathi. “I have two mothers. One is  South India, where I was born and the other is Maharashtra where I got all the fame, name and love,” she said to a cheering audience.

Next up was Aamir, who came with daughter Ira. He was visibly moved as he said, “I am so happy to receive this award,” he said, adding, “This is the State that has enabled us to achieve all that we have today.” 

The entire event was held in Marathi but Aamir excused himself from speaking the language. “My mother tried very hard to teach me Marathi when I a child. The other language she wanted me to learn was Urdu. Unfortunately, I’m not good at either. I can speak Urdu but can’t read it. I can read Marathi but can’t speak it,” he smiled.

While Rekha is known to be quite close to both Hrithik Roshan and Shah Rukh Khan, there has always been talk of her cold war with Aamir, where reportedly the latter even refused to work with the senior actress once. But at the said event, both of them seemed extremely comfortable, exchanging notes and generally being in a very jovial mood.

A R Rahman, whose big concert is scheduled for today, made a late entry yesterday night and was greeted with loud claps. The Slumdog Millionaire team was also at the Awards.

Among the winners in the Marathi film section included Tya Ratri Pawus Padat Hota, Go Mala Asla Hawa, Saawaiya.com and Jogwa. Lyricist Jagdish Khebudkar and director/actor Mahesh Kothare were conferred the V Shantaram Award.

 

The night also saw some spectacular dances – the kathak-lavni jugalbandi really stood out. The humour element was brought in with a satiric take on the Marathi film industry and the direction in which it is heading.

Unfortunately, the tribute paid to both Rekha and Aamir by way of dances weren’t really up to the mark. Wish the organisers and choreographers had been more innovative there.

In spite of the entertainment quotient, the event was still an officious affair.

 Well, the big night is today. Hoping to have a lot of fun at the Rahman concert….