IIFA Awards 2011: SRK chucks performance, instead teaches dance to audience

Shah Rukh Khan never fails to charm! Even if his knee injury restrained him from putting on his usual high-voltage performance, the Bollywood badshah chose to make his audience dance to his steps, and Salman Khan's too!

"If I can't dance, I'll make sure everyone dances here in Toronto tonight," he said as he spoke to the over 20,000-strong audience at the Roger's Centre for the 12th International Indian Film Academy ( IIFA )) awards ceremony Saturday night.

The 45-year-old, who kept making off-and-on appearances on stage during the event, was the grand finale performer. Though his performance started with a bang with the peppy number "Say shava shava", but within a minute it ended leaving fans disappointed.

Little did anyone know that Shah Rukh had more in store for his fans. "Today, I'll teach you guys different techniques used in Bollywood dancing," he told his fans. He took the help of choreographer Shiamak Davar's troupe members in getting thousands of people dancing in the stadium, a key landmark in Toronto.

Teaching his fans how to sway to "Say shava shava", Shah Rukh suggested the fans to presume they had to "pull the flush and knock the door".

Shah Rukh threw another surprise when he chose the title track of his friend-turned-foe Salman Khan's "Dabangg" for the activity. He even imitated the typical Salman step wherein he keeps his hands inside the pants' pockets, and moves them side to side. "This step was made because the trousers were made extremely lose," he quipped.

Aamir's "Khandaala" and Jeetendra's "Dhal gaya din..." were also on Shah Rukh's list of dance numbers to be taught. He had colourful hankerchieves and brooms as props for his dance class!

Trust Shah Rukh to engage his audience like no one does. The audience was, of course, more than elated. "This gesture of Shah Rukh of teaching us dance steps was very cool. We felt like a part of the whole celebration, and not just spectators," Riddhima Roy, a 20-year-old, told IANS.

A foreigner said: "It's a great way to learn Bollywood dancing in a humourous way!"

IIFA Awards 2011: 'Band Baaja Baaraat' wins three awards

Maneesh Sharma's 'Band Baaja Baaraat' won three IIFA awards on Friday night as Sonu Nigam joined Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of the late Michael Jackson, to pay a moving musical tribute to the legend at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards here.

In fact, Nigam's 'Thank you for the legacy' on the second death anniversary of the 'King of Pop' set the stage for the IIFA Rocks show in the city's ultra-modern Ricoh Coliseum, jampacked with more than 25,000 people.

"I want to say how much I love you, because I see Michael in each one of you,'' said Jermaine, the former Jackson 5 singer, as he ended the soulful song with Nigam.

Nigam said he wrote the song after the death of the legend, and thanked Jermaine for joining him in singing it just a day before the second anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. "Insha Allah, hopefully very soon,'' said Jackson earlier on the green carpet when asked whether he would ever perform in Bollywood.

Friday night's IIFA Rocks music-cum-fashion show lived up to its hype as virtually the whole of Bollywood, including Shah Rukh Khan, descended on the Coliseum to entertain Toronto.

The four-hour-long IIFA Rocks show, conducted by Karan Johar and Anushka Sharma, unleashed a fusion of music, fashion and dance as awards were announced in various categories.

Dia Mirza cast her spell with her stunning dance medley of hit numbers such as 'Pyar Do, Pyar Lo,' 'Parda Hai Parda,' and 'Aapka Kya Hoga.'

Mallika Sherawat gave a performance of 'Arabian Nights.'

Sonu Nogam returned to the stage to wow the audience with his 'cocktail of qawwali and rock'. The Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy musical trio carried the night show through.

Namrata Rao won the IIFA award for editing, Naharika Khan for costume and Vijay Dayal for best song 'Ainvayi ainvayi' in 'Band Baaja Baaraat'.

Pritam Das for best sound recording in 'Love, Sex aur Dhokha', Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for background score in 'My Name in Khan', Leslie Fernandes for re-recording in 'Dabanng', and Sudeep Chatterjee for cinematography in 'Guzaarish'.

Sabu Cyril won the award for art direction in 'Robot', which also won the IIFA awards for special effects and make-up.

Shah Rukh turns flirtatious in Toronto, wins over women

King Khan has charmed Toronto with his playfulness. At the IIFA Rock show here, when he was asked to present an award to cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee for "Guzaarish", Shah Rukh Khan had his usual `nonk-jhonk` (banter) with co-hosts Karan Johar and Anushka Sharma.

"I am tired of girls giving me a hug. I want a deep passionate kiss," Shah Rukh said.

When director Karan Johar reminded him of consequences of a passionate kiss at his home, Shah Rukh retorted: "We are thousands and thousands of miles away. What happens in Toronto, stays in Toronto."

After presenting the award, King Khan simply walked up to actress Anushka Sharma and hugged her.

Earlier, at the green carpet reception before the IIFA Rocks show, he was busy talking to reporters. But when he saw Hema Malini behind him, he rushed back and hugged the Dream Girl.

The only star to be accorded the red-carpet welcome as against IIFA`s commitment to the green carpet for reasons of global warming, the Bollywood superstar cast his spell on Torontonians, particularly women, the moment he entered the `Raja` Royal Park Hotel here.

He said: "I love Toronto`s weather. People are very warm. The last time I was here, it was very cold. The cold weather gives me the pretext to go out and hug (more and more) people."

In a rare gesture, Shah Rukh was welcomed by Toronto mayor Rob Ford who presented him with a scroll, Toronto flag and called him "a world famous and iconic figure from the world of Indian film".

Later, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty also presented him with the flag of his Ontario province at the end of the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum.

Thanking the premier, the superstar said jokingly: "I love Toronto. It is a beautiful city. Its women are beautiful."

Everyone had a big laugh when he added that having "flirted with (Toronto`s) women, let me move on before they throw me out of here".