Oh yes, Star Plus had to yank off SRK’s Paanchvi Paas to run the terribly boring IIFA awards. And like a sucker I had to sit up and watch it.

Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh tried to outdo SRK and Saif Ali Khan, and I wished they didn’t. But I must admit their takeoff on Om Can’t be Om, Jab They Left, etc was hilarious.

And, since it called itself rather pompously the International Indian Film Academy awards or somesuch, I expected it to be more than a Bollywood show. Alas, the only non-Hindi actor (by profession) to perform was the stunning Shreya Saran who is the reigning diva of Tamil films – and even she had to belly-dance to a Hindi song!

If it was really an ‘Indian’ film award function, how come all the nominations were only from Hindi films? Do the organisers know anything about the healthy film industry in the east and in the south? I don’t suppose they do…

Anyway, the more I see of Kareena Kapoor I am tempted to dub her a one-film wonder. I seem to be the only one who thinks her performance in Jab We Met, while being good, was in no way award-worthy, not over Ash in Guru or even Tabu in Cheeni Kum. But good for her, is all I say.

Kats looks ethereal; guess it speaks volumes for having a healthy sex life, and I am not talking here of the Khan (wink, wink).

The camera, which made it a point to zoom in on Akshay Kumar when Katrina was performing, or even when Priyanka was on, refused to focus on Ash when ex-beau Vivek Oberoi was on the stage. Believe me, I would have paid anything to see her ex-pressionJ

The best of the evening was saved for the last and I am talking of Akshay’s typically high-octane finale. Man, what a guy! Like good wine, he just seems to be getting better with age! Mmmmwaaaah.