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Ashok Kumar breaking into an impromptu song. Rajesh Khanna walking out of a life-sized gift box onto the stage. Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan bringing the house down with their side-splitting antics. Such moments have left an indelible mark in the hearts of film lovers ever since the Filmfare Awards were instituted in 1953. Sometimes touching, at times funny, but always memorable. Filmfare picks high-voltage moments from the award nights over the last 55 years. So grab that packet of chips, sink into your most comfortable seat and enjoy this special peep into a mixed bag of heart-warming episodes from the Filmfare Awards.
"You wicked, wicked girl - springing this surprise on us." But the fact is she died a thousand deaths before she went on stage for the act. In fact, she even requested a Filmfare staffer to cancel her act.
1967: Meena Kumari was bed-ridden with a fractured arm but promised she would show up to give Waheeda Rehman her Best Actress trophy for Guide. But on the night of the awards there was absolutely no sign of her. An hour later she arrived looking like a million bucks in a white silk sari and handed the trophy to her favourite actress Waheeda with her one working hand.
1969: I S Johar was asked to present the award for the Best Comedian that year. When he came on stage, he picked up the trophy and furiously headed for the mike. He was annoyed with the injustice done to him. He had never won a Filmfare Award and believed he deserved it most of all. He also said he would have to present this award to a "totally unknown" actor Johnny Walker for Shikar. However as he handed over the trophy he broke into a smile, making the audience also burst into laughter.
1981: Kishore Kumar won the Best Playback Singer Award for Thodi Si Bewafai. He sang two of Mohammed Rafi’s songs as a tribute to the legendary singer. The fun really began when Ashok Kumar was also called on stage. The brothers sang a duet and took friendly digs at each other.
1990 January: Aamir Khan had become the new poster boy after his first outing Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. Since he was performing for the very first time on a big stage, he was a bundle of nerves. However, on D day he hardly showed any signs of nervousness with a fabulous performance. It also turned out to be a very busy night for him as he came up to receive six awards on behalf of the QSQT crew. On winning the Sensational Debut Award he was overheard saying, "Thank God at last I have a trophy of my own."
1990 December: Gulzar sahab came on stage to present the award for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female). On opening the envelope and seeing the name he smiled and said, "This is a name I will have to call out differently," and said, "Aji sunti ho." Raakhee came up and took the award for Ram Lakhan from the man who she had shared many beautiful moments with. Later that night, Rekha read out Jackie Shroff’s name for Best Actor in Parinda. Jackie jumped up in excitement and took his son Tiger to receive the award. But Tiger slept through this exhilarating moment.
1993: A bomb threat was issued this year at the awards. The police arrived with sniffer dogs to beef up security. But the show must go on and it did quite magnificently. Shah Rukh Khan recalled on stage the time when he won a trophy for the first time in school. He had rushed back to show it to his mother, but she hadn’t been home. Now he had won his first Filmfare Award for Sensational Debut and things were still the same. His mother had passed away. SRK raised his trophy to the skies and said, in a choked voice, "This one is for you mom."
2001: For the first time in Indian cinema had a film legend’s wax statue been immortalised at Madame Tussauds. Amitabh Bachchan now had his own wax lookalike. It was at our awards funtion that the world first saw the statue. The Amitji hamshakal brought the house down. The occasion was enlivened by AB’s impromptu repartee with his twin.
Text and photographs courtesy Filmfare.com
