Who’ll take home the Black Lady

Tonight is the night of the 54th Idea Filmfare Awards 2008 — Bollywood’s glitziest, most glamorous and prestigious awards show of the year.

Slumdog Millionaire isn’t in the reckoning, neither is Danny Boyle. Instead, there’s Dostana, Ghajini, Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Jodhaa Akbar, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Rock On!!

And, contending for the director’s trophy are AR Murugadoss, Abhishek Kapoor, Aditya Chopra, Ashutosh Gowariker, Madhur Bhandarkar and Neeraj Pandey. Which film will get the coveted Black Lady and which director will take her home tonight? The countdown to find out is on, and the curtain will go up on the awards show and ceremony at Yash Raj Studio at 7 pm. You will get an exclusive telecast of the starry night on Sony Entertainment Television on March 8, at 8 pm.

This is the day you’ll find the stars dressed in their classiest, formal best. Black ties and tuxedos, ball gowns and jewellery, a fabulous and entertaining fashion show live on the red carpet. On stage, masters of ceremony and the new flavours of the season, Ranbir Kapoor and Imran Khan, led by veteran host Karan Johar, will take an exclusive and invited audience through the razzmatazz of the night. To give you a sneak peek behind the curtain, there’ll be the lovely Katrina Kaif dressed by Rocky S dancing to tracks from her films Yuvvraaj and Singh is Kinng. “It’s my first show for the Filmfare Awards and I am very excited,” said Katz. “Shiamak Davar has choreographed my numbers with such elegance. I think the Filmfare Awards is comparable to the biggest and best international film awards functions in every way,” she said.

Then there’s Shahid Kapoor, also excited to be performing here after four years, and promising to rock the stage with a medley of songs, including Mauja Hi Mauja and Nagada Nagada. And Abhishek Bachchan is also slated to make a spectacular entry with the title track of Delhi-6, before going into some more and wrapping up with the popular Desi Girl from Dostana. Bipasha Basu will set the stage on fire with Neil Nitin Mukesh, performing tracks from Aa Dekhen Zara. Farhan Akhtar and his band promise to live up to their reputation and rock on the night to a thrilling and pulsating finale.

In the midst of all this entertainment, the envelopes will be opened on stage to reveal the winners of the 54th Idea Filmfare Awards 2008 one by one. Who gets the Best Actor from among Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan and Naseeruddin Shah? And will newcomers Asin and Anushka Sharma decide the Best Actress between themselves or will one of the old favourites — Priyanka Chopra, Kajol and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan —take home the Black Lady? Time will tell. And the awards are just hours away.