Dear Sonam Kapoor, you deserved to win your first award for Neerja at Star Screen

Astonished at her response, I asked, “Why do you think so? Many are rooting for you.”

“I hope so. But I don’t know. I don’t know,” Sonam replied quickly.

And I could easily hazard a guess that Alia Bhatt had pipped Sonam to win the trophy.

Ever since Karan Johar got Alia to confess that she would be upset if she didn’t bag the Best Actress award for Udta Punjab, it looked like it was going to be an Alia v/s Sonam contest at the award seasons this year. And Alia definitely has won round one, something that leaves me disappointed. Not because Alia didn’t deserve to win. She definitely did, but because Sonam didn’t deserve to lose either.

I am not a die-hard Sonam Kapoor fan but I will say this. She truly deserved to win the Best Female Actor award for delivering what was an extremely fine performance as Neerja Bhanot in the film Neerja earlier this year. The film connected with the viewers of every age group and was definitely one of the best biopics to have been made in Bollywood in recent times. The film collected a total of Rs. 121 crore worldwide and had a good run extending well into its third week too, a rarity in Bollywood unless the film stars either of the superstar Khans. Not to forget, Neerja received a total of 11 nominations at the Star Screen Awards and won four of them including Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress and Best Newcomer Male. Wonder why only Sonam lost out.

Udta Punjab, on the other hand, made more noise for its censor controversies than with its box-office figures. Performance wise Alia certainly impressed with her powerful dialogue delivery and acting skills. But then if I were to play Judge, Jury and Executioner, I would hand the award out to Sonam Kapoor for owning the entire film and making it a critical and commercial success. The only other big name in the film in a supporting role was Shabana Azmi while Udta Punjab had a galaxy of stars apart from Alia.

If Star Screen wanted they could have of course announced two winners in the same category like they did for the Best Newcomer Male where Jim Sarbh and Sonam’s brother Harshvardhan ended up winning together for Neerja and Mirzya respectively. That should have been the norm for the best actress category to award two deserving candidates. Alas! It wasn’t meant to be. It was Alia’s night as the Karan Johar protege ended up winning not just the Best Actress but also the Nayi Soch Award. Double congratulations to her.

Sonam Kapoor at Star Screen Awards 2016:

And that brings me to question certain category of awards themselves. For instance, there were three Best Actor awards — Best Actor Critics’ Choice (Sushant Singh Rajput for Dhoni), Best Actor in a Comic Role (Varun Dhawan for Dishoom) and finally Best Actor (Amitabh Bachchan for Pink). So who is the best ‘Best Actor’? Big B or Sushant or Varun? I was also left wondering at the absence of a Best Actress in a Comic Role award. Were there no female contenders funny enough to take an award home?

Also Read: Star Screen Awards 2016: Rekha’s 2-minute dance gig stole the entire night, see pics

And sorry to ask – what exactly is Nayi Soch? And yes, there definitely should have been a Best Actor in an Action Role award which Varun’s Dishoom co-star John Abraham would have won for his stunts in Dishoom, Rocky Handsome and Force 2. But then I forget. John doesn’t come for award shows for he considers them to be nothing but circus acts. And that, unfortunately seems to be the truth.