³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Fashion crisis - what to wear in fifteen mins? Raj opts for a khaki silk suit and white shirt, while Pablo wears clean cut sharp black suit and tie - Mr White and Mr Black!Ìý A quick shower and we hit the foyer and despite the frantic time turnaround get whistled and shouted at! Disaster... the limo hasn't arrived!! Yash and Pam Chopra with whom we shared the lift tell us their car is also on its way. Shabana Azmi looks elegant in a traditional silk sari while Javed wears a white kurta pyjama.

We hear the screams of Raj&Pablo! Raj&Pablo! Raj&Pablo!! We look around the hurly burly and its Sarky Shabnam screaming our names - HER VOICE CAN CARRY!!...Captin Sheetal Massi is busy saying hello to Zohra Sehgal. We saunter over and before we can say hello we are accosted by a dashing Vikram Phadnis who on our advice opted for his own designed Sherwani - and of course looked DASHING!

Ìý

The Limo arrives and we arrive. Ash looks fantablous in a red gown , Abhi in obligatory black suit and tie, Amitabh and Jay dignifies; David Dhavan in a suit, Kunal Kapoor in black DJ to name a few!Ìý The auditorium is elegant and the opening is fantastic...think of an Andrew Lloyd Webber production - all dancing all theatrical all singing. We sink into the luxurious red velvet seats and it BEGINS!!...What an opening - Thai Dancers - think of the opulence of THE KING AND I and then an entrance on two elephants by Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh whose intro is a fun filled tribute to the success of Jodha Akbar and Mughal e Azam. They are joined on stage by a slightly nervous but stunning Urmilla also in red. And then IT begins....highlights are performances by Diya Mirza - she is so underrated - way to go girl! ; Ritesh and Boman steal the show with a skit on Sarkar Raj where they poke fun; Govinda not only moves us with a song from Partner but also his emotional speech which he dedicates to his mum and David Dhawan for giving him a chance of a comeback; the boys from Mission Istanbul perform what we have termed as an ode to the full Monty meets the Chippendales and bring the house down; BUT the show stopper is Priyanka and Harman - what a number!Ìý Its on par with a performance from Madonna and we see a svelte Priyanka Chops flying through the air! WOW - This film is going to be MASSIVE! Mumtaz moves everyone and receives a standing ovation with her emotional acceptance speech where she shares her experiences of recovering from breast cancer. She spoke about how her family supported her and how Fardeen has become the son she has never had.Ìý Following Mr Amitabh Bachchan's emphatic appeal about global warming Askhay also gets personal about the dangers of green house emissions ...a few of the highlights for us.

Ìý

We leave just before lights come up - we don't want to get caught in the limo jam - as we wait for our car - in rushes Saif Ali Khan - he has just got there and dashes to see Kareena! We make it back to the hotel and rush up to our room where Captain Sheetal Massi and Sarky Shabnam have been feeding into the language shows the results as they happen . They are of course exhausted and in their bathrobes - WE ISSUE A THREE LINE WHIP - no time to sleep - (it wont help their wrinkles anyways) and say its now time to let their hair down and PARTY!!!

Ìý

Love US - Love Bollywood

Ìý

Raj&Pablo xx