Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 21, 2018)

Shah Rukh Khan, the first host of the 63rd Jio Filmfare Awards 2018, that took place on January 20 at the NSCI Dome, declared the show open with a spiffy punchline. “The only difference is, you have paid money to come here while I took money to show up,” he joked, proceeding to perform with 60-backup dancers to “Zaalima” from his January 2017 don dram, Raees. He follows it up with another laughing quip, “Cinema has changed so much. Child heroines have replaced child actors… like my sweetheart Alia Bhatt. She brings in the young crowd and I bring in the old crowd and the film is a hit.”

Pritam, who won the Best Background Score for Jagga Jasoos, his first win out of three nominations, did a celebratory jig with the host to the song “Galti Se Mistake”, saying, “I have worked the hardest on this film. I want to thank Anurag (producer-director Anurag Basu) because it takes real guts to conceive and execute a film like this one.” The composer also picked up the Best Music award for the same film. He had also been nominated for Jab Harry Met Sejal.

Meanwhile, Amitabh Bhattacharya, after accepting his trophy for Best Lyrics (“Ullu Ka Pattha” from the same film), greeted Pritam and singer Arijit Singh with a bear hug post his win. The trio had won several awards in 2017 too for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Sunny Leone, the second performer of the night after SRK, shook a leg to her past hits, including “Baby Doll”, “Gore Gore Chhokre” and “Laila”. SRK warned the audience to “control their husbands from hooting too loudly...”

Black magic
Jackie Shroff and Shefali Shah, who won the Best Actor and Actress awards in the short film category for Khujli and Juice respectively, turned heads on the red carpet. While Shroff was impeccably coordinated with wife Ayesha in a black suit, Shah added a rather fetching pop of colour by way of a chic pencil skirt as she arrived with filmmaker husband Vipul Amrutlal Shah. While Shah’s Juice, directed by Neeraj Ghaywan, also won Best Film, Khujli, in which Shroff is paired with Neena Gupta, has received rave reviews for its irreverent yet realistic take on a longtime couple’s attempts to spice up their sex life.

Of teary-eyed speeches
Yesteryear actress Mala Sinha, who was felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Karan Johar, was teary-eyed during her acceptance speech. “It’s every actor’s dream to hold this Black Lady in their hands. I remember my parents today, I have made them proud,” she said in an emotionally choked voice, even as SRK, holding her purse for the moment, joked, “If there’s any money in it I’ll take it.”

Early birds
Ashwini Iyer Tiwary, in the running for the Best Director Award for Bareilly Ki Barfi, made a perfect match with husband Nitesh Tiwari whose dialogue for the Junglee Pictures production had also got him into the nomination list. Ashiwini hates being late and this time too she arrived well before the rest. Death in the Gunj debutante director, Konkona Sen Sharma also made a pretty picture with Tillotama Shome who had made it to the Supporting Actress list for the film. Tumhari Sulu’s Manav Kaul looked dapper while Iulia Vantur took to the red carpet in a gorgeous bottle green gown.