“London is my favourite, favourite place in the world!” Shah Rukh Khan beamed when he collected his Best Actor award for ‘Chak De! India’ at last Saturday’s Zee Cine Awards 2008 in London.

The ‘Bollywood Bafta’ was presented to him by Bollywood’s original diva, Rekha who stunned the sell-out crowd by reciting the rhyme ‘Jack and Jill’ and singing a few lines from the classic Asha Bhosle track, ‘Dil Cheez Kya Hai’ from the film ‘Umrao Jaan’. Khan performed his ‘Om Shanti Om’ number with at least ten other stars on stage. “Why didn’t you call me on stage to dance with you?” Rekha asked Khan. “Oh Rekhaji, we have grown too old for you!” he cheekily replied.

Khan’s win was no surprise: he was nominated twice in the Best Actor’s category for the aforementioned ‘Chak De! India’ and for his blockbuster ‘Om Shanti Om’. Khan also won the first ever ‘Lifestyle Icon’ award, which broke into half when he collected it. The ‘King Khan’ ended by thanking his London fans: “It is the overseas audience who have made me the star I am.”

Shilpa’s best support

“I’m ecstatic; I have been nominated so many times but I never won,” a visibly tearful Shilpa Shetty cried when she collected her award for Best Supporting actress for ‘Life in a Metro’. Looking stunning as usual in a long white dress, Shetty was accompanied by her producer boyfriend Raj Kundra and her mom. Shetty retained her trademark dignity when she encountered not only one but two of her alleged cheating ex-boyfriend’s former girlfriends: Raveena Tandon and Pooja Bhatra. “This city has gifted me so many awards,” Shetty beamed. “I am so lucky to have the best support system in the world: my parents.”

Katrina’s making waves

British Bollywood babe, Katrina Kaif won the British Indian Actor of the Year award, which was presented by UK Asian MP Keith Vaz. Kaif, the non-speaking Hindi actress of hits like ‘Namastey London’, ‘Welcome’ and ‘Partner’, finally confirmed her roots. “My family lives in London; my mom is British and my father is Indian.” Kaif has no plans to return to the original Mother Country: “I have found my home in India.” She ended on a philosophical note: “I wish all your dreams come true; as mine have!”

On his bike

British Bollywood star, Upen Patel may have lost out to Shah Rukh Khan for the Lifestyle Icon award but this did not prevent him from making the night’s most stylish entry. He arrived on stage on a motorcycle before performing a medley of mainly Salman Khan hit songs. Patel was clearly excited to be back in his home town. “It feels unreal; this is for the UK. I am in London, so I don’t want to sleep.”

“Which one is the Khan guy?”

As the stars walked up the red carpet, the tabloid press photographers went into frenzy. Unsurprisingly, most of them could not differentiate the ‘King Khan’ from the fans and used a mug shot picture printout in order to identify the actors. Anil Kapoor could not wait to take his seat when he arrived. “How do we go?” Kapoor queried and started jumping over the pressmen bags and camera equipment before being directed into the venue.

On the red carpet

Spotted: members of the Kapoor dynasty including Shammi Kapoor in a wheelchair. Also present were the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia, India’s musical genius AR Rahman, hotties Lara Dutta and Neha Dupia, and hunks Arjun Ramphal, Saif Ali Khan and Dino Morea. The UK’s richest man, Lakshmi Mittal and his family arrived last.

Missing in action

Where was Salman Khan? The Bollywood bad boy was advertised to appear but was conspicuous by his absence. The other Khan’s absence was expected: Aamir Khan refuses to attend any Bollywood awards functions as “they lack credibility”. Fans had to be content with seeing Aamir’s namesake, the British Asian boxer Amir Khan who arrived late and left early.

Bolly-shop

As the stars return to Bollywood, some have stayed back in London to indulge in one of their favourite pastimes: shopping. “The prices are not too bad,” Ritesh Deshmukh told me after his visit to Selfridges on Oxford Street. Rekha preferred to browse in the more upmarket Bond Street.

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