There was not much surprise in store as 51st annual Filmfare awards were given away to the deserving as per the expectations. The color of the night was 'Black' and proved once again that 'Black' is 'Beautiful'. This dream by Sanjay Leela Bhansali swept the awards in almost all major categories.

Both Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee celebrated a double whammy as they took away the best actor and actress awards respectively in both popular and critics’ choice award for the movie 'Black'. Ditto for producer-director Sanjay Leela Bhansali who was both the nation's as well as the critics choice. Ayesha Kapoor, who played the young Michelle in the film, took away the best supporting actress awards while Monty had a lady in black all for himself for his haunting background score in the movie. Ravi K Chandran, who gave 'Black' an international 'look' that made it an enchanting fare, earned himself an award for best cinematography while Bela Sehgal received an award for best editing that made each and every frame of the film memorable.

Along with 'baap', even 'beta' had reasons to celebrate when Abhishek Bachchan won a best supporting actor award for his underplayed performance in 'Sarkar'. Husband Javed Akhtar may not have won an award this year but still there was a reason to rejoice at home as wife Shabana Azmi received 'Lifetime Achievement Award'.

Closely followed by 'Black', yet another classic 'Parineeta' came in next when it came to tally of awards. 'Parineeta' by debutant director Pradeep Sarkar was a name to reckon with in technical awards category as it won an award for best choreography. The song was 'Kaisi Paheli', a seductive number choreographed on Rekha, and the man responsible for this was young Howard Rosemeyer. The film also won an award each for best sound design by Bishwadeep Chatterjee and best art direction by Keshto Mondal, Tanushree Sarkar and Pradeep Sarkar, who together recreated the feel of Kolkata right there on the screen. Composer Shantanu Moitra too must have made the legend proud as he received the R. D. Burman award.

'Parineeta' Vidya Balan brought along some more cheers for her team as she won two awards for her debut performance, one as a best debutant female and another as 'Fair One Face Of The Year'. As expected Shiney Ahuja got a best debutant male award for his multilayered performance in Sudhir Mishra's 'Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi'. Nana Patekar proved that he had gone nowhere in the last few years as he got an award for his complex'n'menacing villainous act in 'Apaharan'. Well, most of the credit also needs to go to the acidic dialogues he mouthed in the movie and the fact was recognized as director Jha's name was announced for the best dialogues.

There were some eye brows that were raised when Akshay Kumar was first nominated for a 'best actor in a comic role' category in one of the first awards function at the beginning of the year as many thought that he deserved to be nominated in best actor category. But like most awards announcements of the year so far, Filmfare award in the same category too was no different as Akshay Kumar won it hands down for his hilarious three-timing man in the movie.

When it came to music, 'Bunty Aur Babli' won it hands down by sweeping all but best playback singer (male) category that was collected by current numero uno composer (and now also singer) Himesh Reshammiya for his title song in 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne'. For the rest, be it best female singer, music or lyrics, it was 'Bunty Aur Babli' all the way for Alisha Chinoy [Kajrare], Shankar Ehsaan Loy and Gulzar saab [Kajrare] respectively.

The man who gave Shilpa Shetty her most powerful airborne kick, Allan Amin, got an award for best action for the movie 'Dus'. An interesting story that was told well in the most comprehendible manner for audiences across various segments, 'Page 3' had a lot to thank Nina Arora and Manoj Tyagi for their wonderful screenplay that got them an award. Ditto for Shiv Kumar Subramanium, Ruchi Narain & Sudhir Mishra who came up with an interesting storyline for 'Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi' that fetched them an award in the best story category.

Last but not the least, it was the turn of the Chopras to collect an award that acknowledged their stranglehold over a wide chunk of Hindi film industry. Deservingly Yash Chopra and Aditya Chopra received the newly established 'Filmfare Power Award'.

Summary: Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan (Black), Best Actress Rani Mukerjee (Black), Best Film Black, Best Director Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Black), Best Performance in a Negative Role Nana Patekar (Apaharan), Best Actor in a Comic Role Akshay Kumar (Garam Masala), Best Supporting Actor Abhishek Bachchan (Sarkar), Best Supporting Actress Ayesha Kapoor (Black), Best Debut (Male) Shiney Ahuja Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Best Debut (Female) Vidya Balan Parineeta.

Best Playback Singer (Male) Himesh Reshammiya - Aashiq Banaya Aapne (Aashiq Banaya Aapne), Best Playback Singer (Female) Alisha Chinoy - Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Babli), Best Music Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy (Bunty Aur Babli), Best Choreography Howard Rosemeyer - Kaisi Paheli Hai (Parineeta), Best Lyrics Gulzar Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Babli), Critics Award Amitabh Bachchan, Rani Mukherjee, Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Black), Filmfare Power Award Yash Chopra & Aditya Chopra, Lifetime Achievement Award Shabana Azmi, Fair One Face Of The Year Vidya Balan (Parineeta).

R. D. Burman Award Shantanu Moitra, Best Cinematography Ravi K Chandran (Black), Best Background Score Monty (Black), Best Editing Bela Sehgal (Black), Best Sound Design Bishwadeep Chatterjee (Parineeta), Best Art Direction Keshto Mondal, Tanushree Sarkar and Pradeep Sarkar (Parineeta), Best Screenplay Nina Arora and Manoj Tyagi (Page 3), Best Dialogue Prakash Jha (Apaharan), Best Story Shiv Kumar Subramanium, Ruchi Narain & Sudhir Mishra (Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi), Best Action Allan Amin (Dus)