Urmila on tenterhooks
By Madhur Mittal

FRANKLY speaking, I don’t think one can be far off the mark while saying that something is definitely hassling Urmila Matondkar. There’s a weight on her mind which is turning her smiles into pensive frowns.

This was obvious at a recent film party. Dressed in a (rather) simple salwar kameez, its pink colour did nothing to bring any colour to her virtually make-up less face. Sure, she smiled when meeting other stars or close friends but it was more a reflex action than a genuine, conscious one. For the most part of the party, Urmi was evidently lost in her own (troubled) thoughts.

Is she having (birth) pangs of Kaun? — (Ram Gopal Verma’s new whodunit) and worried sick about its box office fate? Is she feeling totally insecure?

Well, she’s certainly had rough going, of late. I mean, her much hyped dance number is China Gate couldn’t do a fig for the flop film. And then, her first pairing with Akshaye Khanna in Kudrat bombed; the movie, after pulling in the crowds initially, simply petered out into a no-no. Can Ms Matondkar really be blamed if she’s on tenterhooks right now, huh?

Govinda ga la re!

The singing star was supposed to make his grand entry at 9 p.m., to release his debut Indipop album titled (what else?) Govinda. But all the VIP invitees at The Club (Hotel Horizon’s exclusively elite hotspot which carries a life membership fee of over one million — already closed!) had to wait till 10.30 before the man of the evening put in his physical presence.

Of course, in his inimitable humble style, our man was profusely sorry. He had just flown in from Hyderabad very late and, upon arrival at the airport, was promptly whisked away to grace the wedding reception of a close cousin. Only after that could he battle it back through heavy traffic to The Club. Okay, forgiven, Chi Chi ... but it’s high time you bought yourself a personal helicopter!

Beauty and the ...

As predicted in these columns, Kajol has been officially voted "Best Actress" of 98 for her stunning portrayal in Dushman. And again, expectedly, Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai winning a bagful of awards at the 5th Annual Screen-Videocon Nite, came as no surprise, either. The film is still running to packed houses and is being touted to become a bigger grosser than the phenomenal Hum Aapke Hain Koun, even! So, though Ghulaam ran a close second, KKHH won the coveted top awards for best film, best director, best music and the best comedian. Everyone present (amongst the 7,000 strong audience) at the sprawling Andheri Complex was understandably taken aback when the Best Actor award was announced: Ajay Devgun for Zakhm. Simply, unbelievable! Especially when you consider that much better performers like, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar and Govinda were shortlisted, too!

Maybe, this was the organisers’ gift to Kajol-Ajay who’re going to tie the knot in mid February. In any case, apparently — and so very transparently — all’s fair in love, war and film awards!

Lovelies everywhere

The same evening (night?) saw another mega-event taking place at Pune — the crowning of Miss India Universe, Miss India World and Miss India Asia Pacific. Wow! A lethal legacy of lissom, leggy lovelies (29 of ‘em) from every corner of India.

And the judges were no less glamorous, mind it. Dimple Kapadia, Sridevi, Aishwarya Rai, Karisma Kapoor, Urmila Matondkar, Pooja Batra and more! Only odd one out was Gulshan Grover, who made quite a spectacle of himself with his heavy breathing and lewd pranks at the preliminaries.