When Bollywood A-listers rocked New York

The rains may have played spoilsport for those looking forward to watching their favourite stars walking the green carpet for the much anticipated IIFA Rocks event at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey, on the evening of Friday, July 14.
But it could not dampen the enthusiasm of fans who had flocked to the open air stadium to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars - Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Saif Ali Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Karan Johar, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt, Anupam Kher, Shabana Azmi, and Taapsee Pannu among others.
And like all good things in life the best was kept for the last when following a series of performances by the likes of Kamaal Khan (who kickstarted the evening with his hits Oh Oh Jaane Jaana and Main Hoon Tera Hero - a tribute to his good friend Salman Khan who sang along from the front row ) and Diljit Dosanjh (who despite our suspicions of lip - synching nevertheless amped up the evening's energy levels with his rousing set), the man famously referred to as the Mozart of Madras once again proved why he's the apt recipient of that sobriquet.
Taking to the stage at the very end after a series of delays A.R. Rahman made the wait more than worthwhile.
Not even the by now constant drizzle could dampen the enthusiasm of the gathered fans who at one point serenaded the maestro, with their mobile phones lighting up the entire stadium in a show of universal love and acknowledgement of his musical talent. 
Performing with his highly talented group of global musicians, Rahman, who was celebrating the completion of 25 years in the entertainment industry, was in fine form playing his piano and interacting with his musicians, singing along to a medley of his hits - from Dil Se to the hit Naadaan Parindey from Rockstar alongside Mohit Chauhan. Joined intermittently by Jonita Gandhi, Neeti Mohan, Kailash Kher and even Aditi Rao Hydari at one point, it was a night when Bollywood music took over a stadium more used to hosting football league matches. Proving yet again that Indian music has a universal appeal and who better than the multi talented A.R. Rahman to lead the way.

Hosts with the most
Can there ever be a Bollywood Awards Night without a hefty dose of toilet humour? Trust Riteish Deshmukh and Manish Paul to ensure everyone was kept entertained from the word go during the IIFA Rocks event.
The duo did what Bollywood does best - poke fun at itself whether it was a tongue-in-cheek comment on how Salman Khan's girlfriends are treated as sisters by the rest of the industry or how Ranveer Singh has not outgrown the "curtain phase" when it comes to his dressing.
Nothing was sacrosanct including Salman's Tubelight role. Even the reticent Aamir Khan wasn't spared with references to his visit to China to promote Dangal there leaving Salman Khan in splits specially when faced with an Aamir look alike all dressed up in his Dangal character.
The best joke of the night? Anil Kapoor being the first celebrity who needs to be waxed before being made into a wax statue at Madam Tussauds!
ambica@khaleejtimes.com