Actress Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan presented awards to winners of the third Lavasa Women's Drive 2011, a car rally that promotes solidarity and creation of social awareness among women.
She honoured recovering cancer patients and other acheivers at a glittering ceremony here last evening.
The Lavasa Women's Drive was about celebration of the different aspects of life with strength, belief and conviction, along with keeping the faith, Ms Rai-Bachchan said.
"Diseases like cancer should not be feared, and the ceremony has been a humbling experience. They (patients) have been an inspiration for their sheer courage to wake up everyday and conquer cancer," she said.
She further said Indian women need to undertake regular tests for cancer.
"Living the life of a celebrity is one filled with moments of joy and pride on a daily basis. I believe in celebrating the gift of life on a daily basis and sharing it with somebody," she added.
Actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan presented special awards to the winners of the Lavasa Women’s Drive at a glittering ceremony here on Friday night.
It was an emotional moment when she handed out a special award to Anisha Oberoi for her continual fight against breast cancer and to Dr. K. Dinshaw, Director of TATA Memorial Hospital for her exemplary work in cancer research.
The third edition of the Lavasa Women’s Drive culminated with a glamorous award night on Friday at The Hyatt Regency.
Lavasa Women’s Drive (LWD) is an all women drive which is an expression of solidarity to unite various social causes and create awareness through friendships and achievements.
After concluding events comprising of the LWD anthem launch and the Mumbai and Pune flag offs, the award night was a celebration to set the momentum for International Womens Day.
Anuradha Paraskar, Sr. Vice President – Marketing, Lavasa Corporation Ltd played a perfect host as she welcomed the participants and briefed them on the agenda for the evening.
Celebrities such as Jackky Bhagnani and his co-star Pooja Gupta handed over a few awards and also spoke about their upcoming film while the suave Arjan Bajwa and Adnam Sami greeted winners.
Bharati of Comedy Circus fame had participants in splits with her performance. Alque Padamsee, Malvika Sanghavi and Suresh Bhojwani paid a visit.
“The third edition of the Lavasa Women’s Drive was a whopping success. The passionate involvement of all the participants was exemplary,” said Paraskar.
Whilst at Lavasa, not only did they all enjoy the events but in fact many cancer survivors came forth and shared their experiences urging all women to be careful and prevent cancer. Lavasa is proud to own this unique concept which is fun filled yet compassionate in nature and looks forward to making it better and better over the years!” said Paraskar.
The participants won awards in various categories including awards for Best Message, Best Dressed, Most Popular Team, Most Spirited Team, and High on Anthem Award etc.
Singer Shweta Pandit mesmerized audience with her rendition of latest bollywood numbers. Her spirited performance had women dancing till wee hours.
In short it was an evening to remember for all the participants who braved the ghats of Sahyadri to reach Lavasa to create awareness about various causes including women’s cancer.
The actress caught up with The Last Legion co-star at the Oscars and extended an invitation to him to visit Mumbai.
Academy award winner Colin Firth and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan go back. They first met when they acted in the Hollywood big budget movie The Last Legion (add year of release) and they've stayed in touch. So naturally this year the actress was rooting for Colin at the Oscars. She was seen cheering when he won the Best Actor award for The King's Speech. She was disappointed when he didn't win last year for his performance for A Single Man.
When they met at the after party, she congratulated him warmly and introduced him to her husband, Abhishek. She even raised a toast for him. Later, they talked about a possible meeting during her stay in LA. In case their schedule didn't permit this, they talked about connecting with him next month. Colin was ecstatic with his Oscar win and was overheard saying he couldn't believe he was holding the trophy in his hand. They spoke for about 10 minutes and agreed to catch up again when the madness (the entire Hollywood junta wanted a piece of Colin at the party) surrounding Colin subsided.
Although there is speculation whether she has plans to host him in Mumbai and celebrate his success here, everyone is tight-lipped about the details. However, we hear that Colin's trip to India is anyway overdue as Ash had extended an invitation to him when they last worked together.
Bollywood's star couple Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, who are currently in Los Angeles for a holiday, will be attending the 83rd Annual Academy Awards Sunday, according to megastar Amitabh Bachchan.
"Ya, Abhishek and Aishwarya have been invited by the Academy to attend the Oscars on Sunday … so … (sic)," Amitabh posted on his blog www.bigb.bigadda.com.
Amitabh spilled the duo's plans while sharing how American actor Warren Beatty met Abhishek at an LA store for fittings.
"Oh! And incidentally they were getting fitted at a clothes store, for the Oscars Award ceremony for Sunday - Warren and Abhishek!," added Amitabh.
Abhishek, who had been busy with the shooting of Players in New Zealand, is in LA for a break with his wife Aishwarya. The couple will also be meeting once Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker, who is also expected to attend the prestigious ceremony.
These apart, music composer AR Rahman, who has been nominated for two categories at the Oscar this year, will be attending the event too.
Rahman, who won two Oscars for his work in the 2009 movie Slumdog Millionaire, is vying for the golden statuette for the original score of Danny Boyle's 127 Hours as well as original song If I Rise from the same movie, this year. Rahman will also be performing the song at the ceremony.
Meanwhile, the Bollywood fraternity is pinning hopes that the Mozart of Madras brings back the trophies this year too.
India-born British film editor Tariq Anwar is also in the Oscar race with a nomination for his work in the hugely popular historical drama The King's Speech.
Bollywood diva Aishwarya Rai has made it to the cover of Vogue for the third time, sporting an all black feathered look. The magazine carries interesting tidbits on the former beauty queen from 10 men who know her well.
The magazine has spoken to people including Ash's husband Abhishek Bachchan, designer Manish Malhotra, director Ashutosh Gowariker and ace make-up artist Mickey Contractor, said a statement.
Abhishek shared the memories of his first meeting with Ash saying: "The first time I met Aishwarya was in August 1997. I was on a recce for my father's film 'Mrityudata' in Switzerland and she was shooting her first film 'Aur Pyar Ho Gaya' with my dear friend Bobby Deol. I remember one evening Bobby invited me over to his hotel for dinner and Aishwarya and the rest of the unit were there. That was the first time I actually met her."
"If you ask her, she will tell you the same thing - that the minute we came together, we both knew that this was something for keeps. So, there wasn't just this 'one' defining moment, it always felt perfect," he added.
Others too have shared similar interesting episodes related to the beauty queen.
Anaita Shroff Adajania, the fashion director for Vogue India magazine, has styled her for the shoot.
