AWESOME ASSAM

THE 65TH AMAZON FILMFARE AWARDS 2020 @AWESOME ASSAM, HELD IN GUWAHATI, WAS A SCINTILLATING EVENT. DEVESH SHARMA RECORDS THE HIGHLIGHTS

THIS YEAR, at the behest of the Assam government, Filmfare moved the venue of its main awards to Guwahati. The Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Sarusajai, Guwahati was all decked up to receive Hindi film royalty. A huge line-up comprising Akshay Kumar, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Karan Johar, Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, Ayushmann Khurrana, Vicky Kaushal and Kartik Aaryan flew in as performers. While Govinda was honoured with a special award for Excellence In Acting, veteran director Ramesh Sippy was bestowed with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The hysteria created by fans upon glimpsing their favourite stars reverberated in the air. In fact, the applause and cheer could be similar to the frenzy witnessed had the Indian cricket team played at the stadium..

As mentioned earlier, Ramesh Sippy was conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award. The audience stood up as one when Akshay Kumar and the Honourable CM of Assam, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, presented the award to him. Sippy commands tremendous respect for his Sholay (1975), which some say is the greatest Hindi film ever made. He has also directed hits like Andaz (1971), Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), Shaan (1980) and Shakti (1982), before carving a fine career in the TV industry. Sippy was visibly overcome by the gesture and so was wife Kiran Juneja, who couldn’t hold back tears of joy.