Deepika Padukone not only won awards for her acting but also won the nod of the fashionistas when she turned up in a red sheer and appliqué gown designed by Zuhair Murad. The lace work added to the subtle charm. Sridevi was equally graceful in an Oscar de Lenta black gown. Priyanka Chopra looked stylish in a Monique Lhuillier outfit with smoky eyes. Kareena Kapoor turned up in a stunning black Armani gown. The plunging neckline could have created trouble but Kareena carried it off with grace. However, Sonakshi Sinha overdid it in an Aamit Agrawal outfit which accentuated her curves.
The usually dependable Bipasha Basu and Malaika Arora didn’t add anything to their reputation as they played safe with black in Rocky S and Shivam and Naresh creations. Among the second line, Dia Mirza picked the ever reliable Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s full sleeved sequined pink gown that made a loud understatement. Nimrat Kaur impressed with her traditional Vikram Phadnis sari and mang tika , newbie Vaani Kapoor dared to bare in a Rakesh Agrawal gown and Kalki Koechlin looked statuesque in a Gaurav Gupta creation. However, Parineeti Chopra baffled with her outlandish choices. So did Richa Chadda and Monali Thakur.
Modi Effect
The impact of Narendra Modi could be felt in Tampa as well. Anjani Pandey, a local of Indian origin who came to watch the IIFA event, said that Smriti Irani and Tarun Vijay have already visited the county months before the election, and if he is to be believed, they made the participants speak to BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate as well. Tampa has about 35,000 residents of Indian origin and many of them are Patels from Gujarat. So it was not a slip of tongue when Shatrughan Sinha declared from the stage that India should vote for a candidate who is courageous and a man of conviction. A seasoned Hindi film critic commented that Tampa is also suffering from Modiabind (an alliteration of motiabind which means cataract) and Namonia .
The Young Guns
Siddharth Malhotra turned out to be the best known young male actor at the event. Every time his face was splashed on the big screen, the crowd roared in unison. Besides him, such enthusiasm was shown only for Hrithik Roshan and Ranveer Singh. It came as a surprise for the media because Siddharth is just two films old and his performance at the event lacked energy. One actor who was eager to be seen was Gulshan Grover. He was among the first ones to be on the carpet, irrespective of its colour, and was eager to give sound bytes like “I like to party”, and when nothing worked he delivered his good old ‘bad man’ punch. Trying to be cool, he carried two pairs of sunglasses. One on the eyes and the other in the pocket!
Selfie-obsession
The selfie craze was seen at IIFA as well when co-host Shahid Kapur decided to take a selfie which included Kevin Spacey among others. Now Spacey was part of this year’s Oscar selfie as well which brought Twitter house down, but no such obsession was shown by Bollywood fans. Not to be outdone, before starting her performance with “Ek Do Teen”, Madhuri Dixit, who looked a little overweight, took a selfie with the cheering crowd. Then there was a belfie as well — where Farhan Akhtar, Shahid, Boman Irani and Govinda flaunted their derriere and Bipasha Basu clicked.
