The gargantuan night of glamour took place at the Excel Docklands in London last Saturday. The night when the stars dropped from their limos in their most attention-getting outfits, tasteful or not, (we all know there is no such thing as bad publicity). I often snickered at the flattering costumes. I often groaned as the stars prattled on endlessly during their thank you speeches. I cringed in anticipation of the musical acts - will they be impressive or a snooze? But love it or hate it, like thousands of other Indians, I was glued to my seat that night watching the Zee Cine Awards 2008...live!

So as most of the public was eagerly awaiting the arrival of their favourite Bollywood star inside the arena, I was impatiently waiting for them to first arrive on the mere 5 meter red carpet kept only to make us media feel that it was a grand red-carpet event. The few first ones to arrive were designer Manish Malhotra & model Nina Manuel who respectively played hosts on the red carpet for channel ETC and Zee After Hours. Come 6.30 pm, BMW's, Mercedes, Bentley's, Chryslers piled up one behind the other to bring in some of Bollywood's well-known faces. Like the lovey-dovey couple Saif Ali Khan who looked like a true Nawab in his white blazer with yellow embroidered collar on his blue jean along with his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor wearing a dark brown dress and looking quite tanned (they've just popped in to London from their vacation in Maldives). The entire Kapoor family walked the red carpet from Randhir, Rishi, Neetu and Chimpoo Kapoor to Ranbir Kapoor in a trademark London style outfit wearing a pink jumper on his black suit. Also hand in hand walked the hot contender honewali Kapoor bahu Deepika Padukone in her beautiful long black outfit. Neil Nitin Mukesh who was accompanied by his father Nitin Mukesh and his mother looked desperate to win an award...and why not? Karishma Kapoor walked in with her Polo obsessed husband Sanjay Kapur, and when asked him whether he has any plans to make it even bigger in Bollywood by showing his acting skills, he said "Yes" and after a long pause uttered "No". So what exactly is your answer Mr. Kapur?

But before the Kapoor brigade, Lara Dutta graced the red carpet in her blue dress and soon followed her ex boyfriend Kelly Dorje in a rather strange looking outfit along with...hold your breath...three stunning ladies. As for Kelly, all we can say is - teen tigda...kaam bigda. The Jaanbaaz jodi of dad Feroz Khan and son Fardeen Khan attended, then the lonely looking Riteish Deshmukh in his grey suit and blue shirt walked all alone by himself. Mrs. Gauri Khan in her olive green outfit was seen on the red carpet without hubby SRK who already escaped the media through the backstage. It was a white day where many of the celebs wore white - Upen Patel, Dia Mirza, Simi Garewal and Raima Sen. Of course, Abbas Mustan were the only ones missing, which reminds me that when Sajid Khan asked Fardeen Khan why does he feel that the director duo wear white always, he replied - 'I think because they must be a fan of Simi Garewal'. Ha!

The beautiful, the ever-so-charming, the crowning glory and the saagar jaisi aankhon wali Dimple Kapadia along with her daughter Rinke Khanna and designer Abu Jani. Dimple made all heads turn in envy when she walked the red carpet in her exquisite and delicate red and golden kurti. Veteran actors Shammi Kapoor Saab, Prem Chopra Saab and Rakesh Roshan too made their presence felt at the Zee awards. But the last to arrive after all the celebs had taken their seats was none other than music maestro A.R. Rahman. He was late and I wanted to know the reason why, to which he gave me the most clichéd answer of all - 'There is lot of traffic in London'. Agreed Sir!

So as the red carpet looked deserted outside, the show looked packed inside. From Saif Ali Khan to Katrina Kaif, from ace choreographer Ganesh Hegde to British Asian singer Jay Sean, all showcased their acts with thunderous applause. But the show stealer was Shah Rukh Khan who received the maximum, not only by his Om Shanti Om performance right at the end of the show but just by the cameras showing his face on the giant screens kept for the public. Can you believe it? It was funny man Vinay Pathak who received the maximum as well. How? Read on...He came up to receive his award for the best comedian but as the crowd in London hardly know him and his popularity in India, the arena went a bit quiet. So Vinay comes up to the microphone and tells the audience that he knows how to get them cheering on for him in three words. The words were - 'I love Shah Rukh Khan'. That's Vinay at his best. The fans seemed like they wanted to tear off the screens and take SRK out of there. He is meant to be the 'King' after all.

11 pm - the awards were given out, the acceptance speeches were delivered and the stars walked out in style after the award functions heading to the grande 'After Party' at the St James Park Hotel near Buckingham Palace hosted by Zee. Zee Haan, aapne theek suna. So while Saif Ali Khan was getting too private in front of the public eye with Kareena in the middle of the road outside the Hotel entrance (no wonder his next film is titled - Roadside Romeo), it was Mr. Rishi Kapoor who was more watched by the public for his disrespectful behavior and using swear words left right and centre towards the security guard only for the reason best known to him. What I did hear from the veteran actor though was that he was complaining about his car not turning up on time to fetch him when he stepped out of the party. What's further more embarrassing is the fact that he was shouting and swearing in front of Neetu Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone and how can we forget...the public too.

While the rest of the fraternity were enjoying their drinks, chicken and dance, the Kapoors left quietly after making a bit of noise.