While trophies after trophies were presented by the upper-crust of the medium to the winners of the both the Jury & the Popular categories of the awards, the pundal resounded again and again with deafening taaliyan & seetiyan. In sum, it was a night that had everything in it – star-power, rocking entertainment and of course, to cap it all – Amitabh Bachchan…! But if you thought the night was the ultimate – think again! There still was another ace up The ITA sleeve…įollowing the historic Nite of Honours and amidst the presence of the all & sundry of the TV-fraternity, the Awards Nite, too, was a spectacle of rare sizzle. You can’t get more momentous than that… Not in Television – no way…! From Aroon Purie, to Ronnie Screwvala, to Sanjay Khan, to Prem Sagar, to Dheeraj Kumar, to Kushboo Sundar (the South Indian Icon), to Sahara Shri – all were accorded. That over, the string of Honours started now! One after one, stalwarts walked towards the stage to be knighted with the ITA honours. Indeed, they don’t make them like that anymore…! The Shahanshah of all hearts was picture-perfect in grace & humility as he accepted the honour, thanking the ITA so very effusively. He was accorded The ITA Laurel for Ultimate Eminence and the memento was given by the Union Minister Kamal Nath, accompanied by The ITA Prez Anu Ranjan. The number over, Swini went into a banter with Smriti Irani asking the latter to hold her horses as first and foremost, she was going to call her Ghaasphoos on the stage, before anyone or anything else while the latter was just preparing to call upon Big B to come over the stage.Ĭutely, Ghasphoos turned out to be none other than Big B and Swini came down to his seat to escort him onto the stage. Instantly, on the stage, there started a medley of dances from his legendary repertoire by a bunch of kids led by the irrepressible Swini Khara and Raj Pandit. The two somehow tore through the mad melee of the media and finally, Big B could get to settle in his chair. There he was! Taking majestic strides, Amitabh Bachchan was escorted by Shashi Ranjan to his seat. Picking up the bestests of the bests, it preceded its annual Award ceremony with a specially structured, momentously mounted and hugely haloed… Nite of Honours…! The Academy created a unique occasion of salutation for those who have made a difference in the genre. This year what happened at ITA Awards was a truly, truly never-before occurrence – at least in the realms of Television. Two nights… two celebrations… two torpedoes…! Location : Bhavan's Culture Ground - Andheri (W) Mumbai THE IDEA-ITA 7th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS, 2007 Khushhbu Sunder, Gulshan Grover and Kim Sharma