Award season is upon us and for 2008 Bollyspice decided to have a special feature before each of the awards ceremonies. For this new feature some of our writers penned who they thought should win the awards. Since it is rare to see who we want to win actually end up winning, Razeen has decided to predict who the actual winners will be for the events. The first award show is the 14th Annual Star Screen Awards being held on January 10th. Here is our list of who should and will be called after they say and the winner is….

Journalists: Aly Kassam; Sandy Bachra; Sara Ahmed Ventimiglia; Prathna Tiwari; Stacey Yount; Eman K. Harris
Final Verdict By: Razeen Shameem

Best Film:

Eman: Chak De! India
For the sole reason that it was about community and cultural spirit.

Sandy: Om Shanti Om
It was the most satisfying release this year, masala magic just does not get any better than this.

Aly: Taare Zameen Par
Definitely the most innovative and exciting film to come out for MANY years.

Stacey: Taare Zameen Par
TZP stands out as a shinning star (pun intended). Brilliantly written story, incredible cast, superb soundtrack...need I say more?

Sara: Taare Zameen Par
A truly life changing cinematic experience.

Prathna: Taare Zameen Par
Aamir Khan explored such an unconventional topic that is of much relevance to the Indian society where too much emphasis is given to education.

Razeen's prediction: Taare Zameen Par.

Best Director:

Aly: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
His passion is inimitable...and that is the one characteristic EVERY great director should possess.

Sandy: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
A close call between him a Farah, but Aamir has done wonders with this movie and he truely deserves the credit.

Prathna: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
The movie handled a complex issue in a simple manner.

Stacey: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Both moving and exceptional Aamir Khan’s directorial debut was a triumph!

Sara: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Aamir Khan isn't called a perfectionist for nothing. The flair and dedication he created this movie with is truly commendable.

Eman: Mani Ratnam – Guru
He took two incredibly larger-than-life off-screen personas and presented them so beautifully that you forget who they were and saw only the characters.

Razeen's prediction: Shimit Amin- Chak De! India

Best Actor (Male):

Aly: Shah Rukh Khan - Chak De! India
I will give into the commercial hysteria over King Khan, he really was good in CDI. But I think Darsheel Safary should be here.

Sara: Shahrukh Khan- Chak De! India
Ever since Swades, I have really missed Shahrukh Khan the actor, so it was very pleasant to see the actor in him shine through in CDI instead of the "superstar King Khan".

Sandy: Shah Rukh Khan - Chak De! India
Who ever said Shahrukh was just a romantic hero? He has proved the media and many critics wrong with this hockey based extravaganza.

Stacey: Akshaye Khanna Gandhi My Father
Though I am sure I am in the minority on this one, I feel his performance in this film was his finest to date and the finest of the year.

Eman: Akshaye Khanna – Gandhi My Father
Deep, soulful characters are Akshaye's forte but in Gandhi, My Father, he introduced another facet of his talent and raised the bar for talent even higher.

Prathna: Shahid Kapoor - Jab We Met
His performance was flawless and his character went through so many shades in the movie and he handled and pulled off each and every one of those shades!

Razeen's prediciton: Shah Rukh Khan- Chak De! India


Best Actor (Female):

Stacey: Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met
She was exuberantly perfect as happy-go-lucky Geet and then her change to sad defeated Geet was so good you felt her pain coming off the screen. Brava!

Aly: Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met
She was a KNOCKOUT!!!

Sara: Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met
Kareena Kapoor has really outdone all her previous performances.

Eman: Tabu - Cheeni Kum
She is a powerhouse that is capable of carrying a film on her shoulders, critically even though not commercially.

Sandy: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan - Guru

Prathna: Kareena - Jab We Met
My choice wasnt in the nominess but out of them all she'd be the best.

Razeen's prediction: Kareena Kapoor - Jab We Met

Best Jodi:

Aly: Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor
Their chemistry this year was through the roof despite a break-up.

Sandy: Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan

Stacey: Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor
Their connection lit up the screen.

Prathna: Ranbir and Sonam Kapoor
Their chemistry was just sky high! We don't see perfect chemistry too often nowadays so its always a pleasure to witness one.

Sara: Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor
The pair was like a breath of fresh air.

Eman: Kunal Kapoor and Konkona Sen Sharma
They stole my heart and they aren’t in the running because they were supporting characters but they were the lead love story in the film and they acted their parts out beautifully.

Razeen's prediciton: Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male):

Sandy: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Remarkable acting in this movie, Aamir really makes you feel the emotion of not just the character but the film.

Stacey: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par

Eman: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
He appeared half way through the film and he didn’t steal the show because he let the storyline and the film as a whole steal the show.

Prathna: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
He was just too good! Perfect and amazing! Not more can be said hehe...

Sara: Aamir Khan - Taare Zameen Par
Even though TZP was Darsheel's movie, Aamir Khan made his presence felt, I expected nothing short of a superb performance from him.

Razeen's prediciton: Mithun Chakraborty (Guru)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female):

Aly: Shefali Shah - Gandhi My Father
She was, as always, fantastic.

Sandy: Chak De! Girls - Chak De! India
Without these girls there would be no Chak De India. 16 girls, many of which had to take lessons in acting should be commended for their outcome

Eman: Konkana Sen Sharma - Life in A… Metro
She was incredible in ‘Life in A…Metro’ and managed to steal the limelight from the highly overrated Kangana Ranaut.

Prathna: Konkona Sen Sharma - Life in A...Metro
Loved the character and so different from what she has normalkly played. She was just perfect. The comic scenes and emotional ones were handled so well!

Stacey: Konkana Sen Sharma - Life in A..Metro
Konkona was outstanding in Life in A Metro and her and Irrfan’s story was my favorite of them all!

Razeen's prediction: Konkona Sen Sharma - Life in A..Metro

Best Actor in a Negative Role (Male/ Female):

Sandy: Arjun Rampal - Om Shanti Om
Arjun pulled off such a small character in such a big movie tremendously.

Prathna: Arjun Rampal - Om Shanti Om
He was pure evil! I mean come-on burning someone ALIVE! Lol! And also his best performance till date!

Stacey: Arjun Rampal and Vivek Oberoi.
Both performance were brilliant and were praised by critics and audiences alike. If I must pick one I will say Vivek Oberoi but I will be happy if Arjun wins as well.

Eman: Pawan Malhotra – Black Friday
In Black Friday he came into his own as Tiger Memon. There was none of the overdone histrionics as frequently displayed by the ‘villain’ in Indian cinema. A villain with a soul.

Razeen's prediction: Vivek Oberoi- Shootout at Lokhandwala

Best Actor in a Comic Role (Male/ Female):

Stacey: Govinda - Partner
Govinda is so natural on screen and though his character could have been overplayed in Partner he played it to perfection. Gave me and audiences many a laugh!

Sandy: Govinda - Partner

Eman: Irrfan Khan - Life in A… Metro
He took a character that could have been easily sidetracked and made him his own and enough to leave a mark. Irrfan was a revelation.

Prathna: Irrfan Khan - Life in A...Metro
Versatality is his second name! He was just amazing and pulled off something that many probably didnt expect him too! Loved him!

Razeen's prediction: Govinda - Partner

Most Promising Newcomer (Male):

Aly: Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya
What a natural!

Sandy: Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya

Stacey: Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya
Not many could have given such an outstanding performance in their first film.

Sara: Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya
Truly lived up to and even surpassed all the expectations and hype, a promising actor in every sense of the word.

Eman: Neil Nitin Mukesh – Johnny Gaddaar
Just watch Johnny Gaddar to see what I am talking about.

Razeen's prediction: Ranbir Kapoor - Saawariya

Most Promising Newcomer (Female):

Aly: Deepika Padukone - Om Shanti Om
She has all it takes.

Sandy: Deepika Padukone - Om Shanti Om

Prathna: Deepika Padukone -Om Shaanti Om.
She was gorgeous, talented and danced so well.

Sara: Sonam Kapoor - Saawariya
An actress who shows promise in bringing the classical charm and charisma that Bollywood has been lacking for sometime now.

Stacey: Sonam Kapoor - Saawariya
It takes an amazing amount of talent to go from crying one second to laughing the next and make it seem real. Her character had many layers and she portrayed this complex character wonderfully.

Eman: Sonam Kapoor – Saawariya
I have maintained that she has the chameleon quality that very few newcomers have. She can, physically, be anyone and in terms of acting, while she is getting there, she has incredible potential.

Razeen's prediction: Deepika Padukone -Om Shanti Om

Best Child Artiste:

Aly: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par
Forget child artiste, he is THE best actor of the year.

Sandy: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par

Stacey: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par

Sara: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par
To truly appreciate an actor like Darsheel Safary, one shouldn't neglect him by putting him in a newly created child artiste category because an actor is not confined by age.

Prathna: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par
He was amazing! what he did many of our senior stars cannot pull off.

Eman: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par
The boy has a scope of emotions and expressions and that is incredible for someone his age.

Razeen's prediction: Darsheel Safary - Taare Zameen Par

Best Music:

Aly: Monty Sharma - Saawariya
OSO should be nominated as well, but Saawariya is classic.

Sandy: Monty Sharma - Saawariya
Not one single track on this album that’s not worth listening to. Each one is pleasant to the ears

Prathna: Monty Sharma - Saawariya.
All the tracks were magical. The lyrics could have been better but the music was brilliant!

Sara: Monty Sharma - Saawariya
Every track has something new and fresh to offer so as a listener, I was thoroughly entertained.

Eman: Monty Sharma – Saawariya
The story was a fairytale and the music matched the out of world feel to it. Every tune delved into a part of your soul that remained unvisited.

Razeen's prediction: Pritam - Life in A…Metro

Best Playback Singer (Male):

Aly: Shankar Mahadevan - Maa (Taare Zameen Par)
Exquisite vocals.

Sandy: KK - Aankhon Mein Teri (Om Shanti Om)
Behind a magical song lies a magical voice.

Prathna: Shankar - Title song (TZP)

Stacey: Shankar Mahadevan - Title Song (Taare Zameen Par).

Sara: Shankar Mahadevan - Taare Zameen Par
It's really hard to pick between his rendition of 'Maa' and 'Taare Zameen Par' but the award belongs to the man all the way

Razeen's prediction: Shankar Mahadevan - Taare Zameen Par (TZP)

Best Playback Singer (Female):

Aly: Shreya Ghoshal - Yeh Ishq Haaye (Jab We Met)
It was Shreya's year all the way, and she did something different with this tune.

Sara: Shreya Ghoshal - Yeh Ishq Haaye (Jab We Met)
I loved how funky she got with this rendition since we mostly hear her singing soft romantic or classical songs

Sandy: Chinmaye - Tere Bina (Guru)
Chinmaye's voice does credit to the wonderful lyrics of this song.

Prathna: Sunidhi - Sajna Pe Vari Vari (Honeymoon Travels)

Eman: Shreya Ghosal - Sawar Gayi (Saawariya)
The control in her voice was impeccable. The voice belonged to Sakina and not her.

Razeen's prediction: Shreya Ghosal- Barso Re (Guru)


Best Choreography:

Aly: Farah Khan - Dhoom Tana (Om Shanti Om)
Entertaining, fun...everything a dance SHOULD be!

Sandy: Farah Khan - Dhoom Tana (Om Shanti Om)
Fantastic Choreography as per usual Farah is not a let down. Dard-E-Disco need i say anymore?

Stacey: Vaibhavi Merchant Aaja Nachle (Aaja Nachle)
Wonderful, exuberant choreography that was danced brilliantly but Madhuri

Prathna: Aaja Nachle (Aaja Nachle) by Vaibhavi and Yoon Shabnami (Saawariya) by G and Pappu

Eman: Ganesh Hegde & Pappu-Mallu – Yun Shabnami – Saawariya
The colours. The movement. It was like poetry in motion.

Razeen's prediction: Farah Khan- Dhoom Tana (Om Shanti Om)

So there you have it! We will of course be reporting who the winners were of the star-filled night. We will also have a piece on how we did, especially Razeen so be sure to come back and see!