“To win here is like England winning the World Cup!” British Asian actor Upen Patel exclaimed as we celebrated his Best Male Newcomer triumph at last weekend's International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) in Yorkshire, England. The stud from Southall, winner of the Best Male Newcomer, was in high spirits but stuck to orange juice. Patel received his award to deafening screams from women in the audience. “My British fans mean a lot to me as I am a Brit in Bollywood,” Patel stated as we stayed up chatting until daybreak.

It’s time to disco

Also present at the party was Raj Kumar Hirani, winner of the Best Director award for his comic Gandhian caper Lage Raho Munna Bhai. He expressed relief to have won an award for directing. “I always win writing awards, so it is nice to receive this one,” he told me. I bumped into Rakeysh Om Prakash, director of the Best Film Rang De Basanti, the stunning Munna Bhai actress Dia Mirza, respected actor Kabir Bedi, former Miss Universe Lara Dutta and funnyman Govinda. “It’s great to be part of this global Bollywood family,” the actor turned Indian politician beamed.

Gay Icon

Earlier that day, I caught up with Akshay Kumar, one of Bollywood true A-listers. The martial arts expert, more famous in the UK for being the alleged cheating boyfriend of Shilpa Shetty, did not want to be asked any Shetty questions. Instead I asked him how he felt to be regarded as India’s biggest gay icon. “Am I?” Kumar replied, adding that “homosexuality is quite open in India, things have moved on.” The Punjabi Kumar later rocked the Sheffield audience with arguably the best bhangra performance of the evening.

Fearless Khan

The Yorkshire held Bollywood 'Oscars' are over and most of the stars have decamped to London. On Monday, I met up with hunky heroes Salman Khan, Bobby Deol and Bollywood’s top director, Karan Johar at their central London hotel. “Some brain dead journalist must have come up with the term Bollywood, I hate it!” Salman Khan, the bad boy of Bollywood stated. Khan uses his clout to support alternative films: he played an HIV character in Shilpa Shetty’s Aids drama Phir Milenge. “No actor in India wanted to take this part because of the social stigma and possible damage to their image but I do not give a damn as I am committed to meaningful cinema,” he said.

Shilpatastic!

Shilpa Shetty was also at the hotel to launch her first product, a perfume called S2 which goes on sale exclusively in the UK from July 2nd. The idea of celebrities launching their own fragrances has become a bit jaded but Shetty was perky about the prospects for her jasmine-based scent. “It’s unique, men can use it also,” she giggled as she sprayed it on my yet to be washed wrist.

Holidaying Khans

Shah Rukh Khan, Bollywood’s current numero uno actor, was conspicuous by his absence at the IIFAs but he is also in London. Khan took his kids to Madame Tussuads last Wednesday night to see his waxwork, which is currently on display. “It’s my kids’ school holidays, so spending time with them is my main priority,” Khan told me when I asked him why he was not attending the IIFAs. Did his two children get confused when they saw the waxwork? “No, I made sure they know who their father is!” Khan laughed.

Bollywood art

The following day, Shah Rukh Khan was at Bonhams, London’s posh auction house, where he co-hosted a charity event with MF Hussain, the ‘Picasso of India’. “My wife is into art, I prefer to invest my money into my movies,” Khan stated as he helped Hussain on a Bollywood Mughal-e-Azam canvas. Amongst the celebrity bidders were the UK’s curry king Sir Ghulam Noon, Satyajit’s Ray’s muse Sharmila Tagore and former Nobel Prize winner and my fellow Trinidadian Sir Vidia Naipaul. Although bidding went up to £162,000, the painting did not sell: it failed to fetch its reserve price.

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