VANCOUVER - BC Place Stadium was awash with glitter, gold, and colourful saris as 91原创 rolled out its red carpet for some of the biggest names in Indian cinema.
The who鈥檚 who of Bollywood gathered for the inaugural Times of India Film Awards gala, the culmination of a three-day celebration of South Asian film, dance and music.
The weekend, however, was meant to serve a greater purpose than simply recognizing film stars and technical crews for their achievements, according to one Bollywood director.
鈥淥ur films are really about the audience base,鈥� Karan Johar told a news conference when it was first announced 91原创 would host the movie awards.
鈥淭he diaspora love that our films have received over the last 50 years has been ... something I can鈥檛 describe in words,鈥� Johar said.
鈥淲hen everybody calls them the diaspora audience ... I always say, 鈥楾hey鈥檙e much more Indian at heart than any of us are. They feel so much more attached to their roots.鈥�
The multi-million-dollar, taxpayer-funded awards weekend was money well spent for Richmond resident Jasbir Johal, who attended the awards gala with her family.
Johal was born in India and came to Canada in 1988. She grew up watching Bollywood with her mother in India and although she never got a chance to see some of the industry鈥檚 biggest stars there, she said she was excited to share the glamour of Bollywood in Canada with her kids.
Johal said Saturday night鈥檚 event goes beyond film awards and celebrity gossip because Bollywood has helped her 91原创-born daughters maintain a strong interest in their heritage.
鈥淚鈥檓 so blessed,鈥� Johal said. 鈥淢y children were born here ... (but) they still love to get involved in Indian culture. I think it鈥檚 all because of media and TV shows and shows like this.鈥�
Johal thinks the event will drive the growth of the multicultural film industry in B.C. and foster a greater awareness of South Asian culture, she said in an interview from her home.
鈥淲e really thank whoever organized this show, so that our young generation who (are) born here, who grew up here can experience our Indian culture,鈥� she said.
The mother of three prepared samosas and chai tea while her daughters put on makeup and dressed for the awards.
Her 18-year-old daughter Dayah, is a student at the University of British Columbia who speaks six languages and is involved with the Punjabi Language Education Association, to promote the language鈥檚 use among young people.
Dayah's older sister Pavvin is in fourth-year nursing at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and neither has time to watch many movies, but said they try to catch Bollywood re-runs whenever they can.
They wore their best for the awards gala, after getting caught up in the fairy-tale glamour of the event. Dayah donned a white and pink high-collared frock, while Pavvin wore a blue ornate outfit that her relatives brought from India.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really exciting to have it here in 91原创, where we can go to all these Bollywood events that we otherwise wouldn鈥檛 get a chance to,鈥� Pavvin said.
鈥淭he Musical Extravaganza I went to a few days ago was my first concert ever."
Once the Johal ladies finished beautifying, they joined hundreds of star-crazed fans who jostled for a better look at their idols outside BC Place.
Braving the rain to snap photos, many offered opinions on who would win which awards.
While the show started on the infamous 鈥淚ndian time鈥� 鈥� more than 45 minutes late 鈥� the 40,000 attendees responded with high-pitched screams, whistles and applause as about 40 Bhangra dancers from Surrey, B.C. opened the night with a high-energy routine.
There were audible boos, however, when Premier Christy Clark first took the stage 鈥� though the crowd did warm up some as she spoke of future opportunities for Bollywood films in the province.
鈥淟et鈥檚 use this beautiful celebration of Indian film to continue to build bridges between us,鈥� Clark said. 鈥淢ore trade opportunities, more tourism, and definitely more of your movies right here in beautiful British Columbia.鈥�
鈥淏ridging countries, bridging cultures, this is who we are,鈥� she said.
Finance Minister Mike de Jong got some laughs from the crowd when he tried speaking Hindi and also for his attempt at performing a South Asian dance.
De Jong joked that he was auditioning for a role in Bollywood because he never knew when he 鈥渕ight be in need of a job.鈥�
He flubbed only once, giving out a 鈥淭OFI鈥� instead of a 鈥淭OIFA鈥� to one of the award winners.
The awards show ran way overtime. Scheduled to end around 11 p.m., the show was only on act four of seven by that time.
Bass beats boomed with the final performance from BC Place, as the clock hit 12:30 a.m. on Sunday morning, and many fans streamed out of the building to catch the last SkyTrains home.
Over the course of the evening, awards were handed out in 14 main categories based on online votes from Hindi-film fans around the world. A number of critics鈥� choice selections were also awarded to those who didn鈥檛 win in the popular choice categories.
Host Ranbir Kapoor, who was introduced as 鈥渢he heartthrob of millions, his awesomeness,鈥� took the stage with co-host Anushka Sharma in a glittery act.
None, however, could eclipse the star power of Shah Rukh Khan, who had the audience bursting into frenzied applause every time his image flashed on the jumbotron.
He gave a sweat-soaked performance that had the audience on their feet as the clock struck midnight, but still ended up losing out in the Best Actor category to Kapoor.
Barfi, a film about a deaf and mute man caught in a love triangle, won Best Picture, while the film鈥檚 director, Anurag Basu, was also victorious in his category.
Priyanka Chopra won Best Actress for her work on the same film and stunned fans with a live performance that included several mid-song costume changes and a jaw-dropping entrance 鈥� she emerged from behind a giant orchid wearing a diamond-encrusted body suit that left little to the imagination.
Other starlets gave rousing performances of their own, including England-born Katrina Kaif, who belly danced her way through flames and hoards of male backup dancers and did not miss a step as one overzealous fan was escorted from the arena by security.
Fans jumped to their feet and ran towards security barricades as actor Abhishek Bachchan rode into the stadium on a slow-moving cart, dishing out smoldering glances and blowing well-received kisses at the crowd. Married to fellow Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, he hip thrusted his way into the hearts of his fans and left with the TOIFA for Best Actor in a Comic Role.
Rai Bachchan also performed live at the awards, her first live show since giving birth the couples鈥� child, according to the awards hosts.
Perhaps the most quirky award 鈥� reserved for villains 鈥� went to the host鈥檚 father, Rishi Kapoor. He won Best Actor in a Negative Role for the Indian action drama, Agneepath.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role went to Dolly Ahluwalia for her work in Vicky Donor, a somewhat-controversial film because it talks about sperm donation 鈥� which is still considered taboo in some South Asian communities.
Annu Kapoor, meanwhile, was awarded Best Supporting Actor and gave a dead-pan acceptance speech in Hindi that had the crowd in stitches.
Illeana D鈥機ruz took home the elephant-shaped TOIFA trophy for Best Debut Female, while Ayushmann Khurrana was awarded Best Debut Male, beating out 91原创-crowd favourite Sidharth Malhotra.
The awards for Best Playbacks 鈥� artists whose songs are lip-synched during Bollywood films 鈥� went to Shalmali Kholgade for her hit 鈥淧areshaan鈥� and Sonu Nigam for 鈥淎bhi Mujhme.鈥�
Saans claimed the top spot for the lyrics to 鈥淕olzar鈥� and Ajay Atul won the award for Best Musical Director.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version misspelled the last name of Karan Johar
