Ashok Kumar breaking into an impromptu song. Rajesh Khanna walking out of a life-sized gift box onto the stage. An emotional Shah Rukh Khan dedicating his first Filmfare trophy to his late mother. 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.
1960: Vyjayanthimala, dazzling in white and gold, sang two numbers which resulted in the crowd going berserk. Dilip Kumar went up to her after the show and said,
“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.
1963: Ashok Kumar won his first Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role in Rakhi, incidentally his 100th film. The trophy came 26 years after his debut. At the function, he had only sung a few lines from a song in the film when compere David stopped him and requested him to sing his evergreen number Chal Chal Re Naujawan. The actor happily obliged.
In 1965, the climax to this show was the introduction of the Filmfare–United Producers Talent Contest. The eight chosen ones, shortlisted from more than 10,000 star aspirants walked out of life-sized gift boxes. Amongst these eight were Rajesh Khanna, Subhash Ghai and Farida Jalal. Now you know where such stars were discovered. On our very own Filmfare stage.
Meena Kumari and Waheeda Rehman
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.
Johnny Walker and IS Johar
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.
1973: Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan made their first public appearance after their marriage at the Filmfare Awards. They were also one of the most mobbed couples. They were to put up a skit with Deven Verma but the latter couldn’t put it together in time.
1974: Bachchan burst into tears when mentor Hrishikesh Mukherjee presented her the Best Actress Award for her role in Abhimaan. Rajesh Khanna walked in with a maxi-clad Dimple, who was six months pregnant at the time. Dimple didn’t seem to be in the best of moods, which her sister Simple said was because it was “one of those days” in her pregnancy.
Amjad Khan
1979: Amjad Khan was all prepared to emcee the show this year. But on the eve of the show, while he was driving back from a late night shoot, a truck crashed into his car and broke his leg. The big built actor however possessed an equally big heart. He promised to come in a wheelchair if Filmfare couldn’t find a replacement in time. But Randhir Kapoor and Deven Verma came to the rescue and hosted the show. The duo brought the house down with their hilarious gags and commentary.
Kishore and Ashok Kumar
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.
Kishore Kumar and RD Burman
1983: Kishore Kumar, winner of the Best Playback Singer Award was to perform at the awards but as he was running a little late, RD Burman jumped on stage and saved the day by singing the sensuous Samandar mein nahake tum. When Kishoreda finally joined RD on stage, he informed the packed house that the music composer had completed
25 years in the industry. After RD was given an award for his achievement and contribution to the music industry, he and Kishoreda belted out a few of their tracks. RD wound up the act with an impromptu performance of Jaana o meri jaana to the crowd’s delight.
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.”
Raakhee and Gulzar
1990 December: Gulzar saab 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.
Rekha and Jackie Shroff with his son Tiger
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.”
1997: Shah Rukh Khan, Dharmendra, Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu
1994: Sharmila Tagore went up on stage to announce the Sensational Debut (Male) Award. Little did she know that her son Saif Ali Khan would be the winner. It was a very emotional moment between Saif and his mother on stage. Shiamak Davar’s troop paid a tribute to the late RD Burman by dancing to his tunes. Gulzar was overwhelmed by the performance and was overheard saying backstage he couldn’t believe that Panchamda wasn’t with them anymore. Asha Bhosle took to the stage later that night and recalled her life with Pancham moving the packed house to tears. She also announced that from the following year a new award would be instituted called the RD Burman Award.
It would be presented to upcoming talent in music.
1995: Akshay Kumar is known for his electrifying live performances. At the awards this year, he was to alight on stage from a high wire amidst flames. But calamity struck during the rehearsals when the cable snapped. Luckily, Akshay escaped unhurt. Now this would be enough to scare any mortal but Akki was determined to go ahead with the act. And he literally set the stage on fire. Raveena Tandon joined him for the performance and Shah Rukh Khan made a surprise appearance in the middle of the act. The suave Shekhar Kapur collected the Critics’ Award for Best Film Bandit Queen. He appeared on stage in handcuffs to protest the fact that his movie had been banned and said, “Man is born free but finds himself everywhere in chains.” The late RD Burman won Best Music Award for 1942 A
Love Story.
1997: Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu gave Dharmendra the Lifetime Achievement Award. Dharmendra being his usual emotional self gave a heartfelt speech. To cut a (really) long story short he spoke about the movies and his association with the Filmfare family. He went on to say how the Filmfare Award had evaded him for the past 37 years but one LTA Award made up for it all.
Akshaye Khanna, Rekha and Shah Rukh Khan
1998: SRK on receiving the Best Actor Award for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai was in his element. His best line came when he sent out a message to his two month old son Aryan. Instead of saying this one is for you son he said in baby prattle, “Goombalo ongabadd iedoogieg odddtygaa.” How’s that for a new lingo invention?
Hrithik Roshan, Urmila Matondkar and Smita Thackeray
2000: Hrithik Roshan came, saw and conquered. First with his emotional speech about the attack on his father and how he wanted to quit even before he had really started. When Hrithik’s molten eyes misted, the audience too shed tears. But then the entertainer took over and the sculpted-to-perfection greek god showed us what real superstars are made of.
Amitabh Bachchan
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.
(clockwise) Shah Rukh Khan with Rekha, Kajol, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukerji
2005: Shah Rukh Khan was the showstopper that night. And man what a showstopper he was. He romanced eight different actresses from different eras in Hindi cinema. Starting with Vyjayantimala he went on to Sharmila Tagore, Rekha, Zeenat Aman, Jaya Prada, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerji and our all time favourite Kajol. For the grand finale he brought out all eight women on stage. What a moment!
Clockwise: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
2006: Amitabh Bachchan made his first public appearance after his severe illness. When Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra called out his name for Best Actor (Critics) the entire house stood up to pay respect to the legend. Big B’s doctor had also advised him not to mingle with the crowd so he sat in his van backstage. His only request was that the van have cable connection so he could watch Abhishek Bachchan perform live for the first time on the Filmfare stage. We definitely obliged. He was not the only one keen to watch Abhishek in action; Aishwarya Rai too was super keen to watch Junior B. She had also dropped in at his rehearsals a couple of days earlier. So after her remarkable performance of Kajrare she quickly changed into her black dress and sat in the crowd to catch Abhishek’s performance. She was seen clapping and enjoying the performance excitedly.
Shabana Azmi with Prateik
2007: The memory of this fieryof the unforgettable Smita Patil was truly special and Filmfare wanted to preserve it forever. A collage of her photographs was made and signed with a personal message from her co-stars like Om Puri, Nasseruddin Shan, Amitabh Bachchan and Shabana Azmi. Her son Prateik accepted this collage. The moment was incredibly touching.
Rishi and Neetu Kapoor
2008: It was time to give away the Lifetime Achievement Award and Ranbir Kapoor (who was on seventh heaven for winning his first Filmfare Award for Sensational Debut) was to present the award to his father, Rishi Kapoor. A nervous Ranbir stood backstage with Deepika Padukone who tried to pacify him. Just before he stepped onto the stage she whispered to him that she loved him. Ranbir gave a very emotional and endearing speech. Then Dimple Kapadia was called on stage to present the award to her bobby co-star. She said very poetically, “I gave my heart away 35 years ago and never got it back.” She called upon Neetu Kapoor to give the award to her husband as she thought only she deserved to give it to Chintuji.
2009: Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan took over from Saif Ali Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as hosts for the night. There was a lot of expectation considering they were taking over from the legendary pair but boy did they deliver. Their gags had the full house at the Yash Raj Studio in splits. SRK made his first appearance after his shoulder surgery and created magic on stage. He called the cast and crew of Slumdog Millionaire on stage. Fresh from their Oscar success the kids admitted that they were more excited to meet SRK than any Hollywood superstar. And SRK didn’t disappoint. He was charm personified as he quizzed the kids on the Slumdog experience and each one had something special to say.
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