Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 4, 2017)

Steering clear of the paparazzi, Deepika Padukone avoided the red carpet despite her red-hot avatar and made a quiet backdoor entry at the Reliance Digital Filmfare Glamour and Style Awards 2017. Keeping the threats to her life over the past few weeks in mind, the actress prudently chose not to sit with the audience and, looking stunning in a Gauri and Nainika gown, she accepted the ‘Most Glamorous Star – Female’ award from Bollywood diva Rekha, before exiting the event. But even after she was gone, the conversation on the red carpet revolved around her and her upcoming period drama, Padmavati, with Hrithik Roshan (‘Most Glamorous Star—Male’), Varun Dhawan (‘Best Dressed Male’), Sonakshi Sinha (‘Fashion Reinvention of the Year’), Kriti Sanon (‘Future of Fashion – Female’) and Yami Gautam condemning the death threats. “It is a reflection of the fact that we still have a long way to go to evolve into beings,” Hrithik, who has worked with filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali in Guzaarish, pointed out, while Kriti rued that now others will think twice before picking up a controversial historical.

Deepika’s Padmavati co-star, Raja Rawal Ratan Singh aka Shahid Kapoor, the ‘Most Stylish Actor’, flaunted shoes which had the word “king” inscribed in gold. He was joined on the red carpet by Varun and Prateik Babbar after which the trio made their way together to the ballroom of the SoBo five-star where the recently-crowned Miss World Manushi Chillar was the star attraction and was presented a ‘Special Mention’ trophy by Karan Johar, who exulted, “What title can we give the most beautiful woman in the world?”

Sridevi who was adjudged the ‘Timeless Glamour and Style Icon’, flew in straight from Udaipur and the set of KJo’s production, Dhadak, which marks her daughter, Janhvi Kapoor’s debut. Rekha and she had plenty to chat about but not many understood a word of what they said as the duo was jabbering away in rapidfire Telugu. After the gala, it was back to the City of Palaces to chaperone daughter dearest.

Katrina Kaif, the ‘Fashion Trailblazer of the Year’, was in a hurry to be someplace else. ‘Best Dressed, Female’ Alia Bhatt had a dinner engagement while her ‘Best Dressed Male’ counterpart Varun had to be at a friend’s engagement. But before leaving, he rubbed shoulders with “Jacky Fernando”, the two sharing her seat for a while. ‘Hotstepper of the Year’ Jacqueline Fernandez hooted the loudest when he won.

‘Most Stylish Star, Female’ Sonam Kapoor shimmered in gold and posed with Sonakshi, Jacqueline and her Veere Di Wedding co-star, Kareena Kapoor. The hot topic of discussion was not her crown but her much-awaited engagement to her beau of two years, Anand Ahuja. “Sonam and Anand’s chemistry is better than that of Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon’s in Raabta,” Neha Dhupia joked, quick to add that it was all said in good spirit.

Interestingly, Sushant Singh Rajpur wasn’t around to pick up his trophy for ‘Future of Fashion—Male’. Kriti and Ankita Lokhande’s respective publicists made sure that they didn’t cross paths. Ayushmann Khurrana (‘Hotstepper of the Year – Male’). Adaar Jain, Saiyyami Kher, Sonali Kulkarni, Daisy Shah, Harshvardhan Rane and Karan Singh Grover were there too, the ‘Vaanar’ surprisingly minus the Mrs.