Two winners
The sixth edition of the "Annual Central European Bollywood Awards" (ACEBA), the pioneering and most important award voting in the German speaking Bollywood community, resulted in some expected and unexpected winners (see results in German here). Leading the field with seven awards is the epic "Jodhaa-Akbar", but the most important awards were once again handed out to Shahrukh Khan and his blockbuster "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi". King Khan himself won the "best actor"-category with stunning 53.1%. That is a decline of 20% over last year's "Om Shanti Om", but his popularity remains unbroken. Consequently, his "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" won all the categories it was nominated in - except "best cinematography".

Triumphant epic
That award went to Ashutosh Gowariker's "Jodhaa-Akbar" which took the technical categories by storm. With 60.9% for "best costumes", it took the crown of "winner by the biggest margin". Although it must be said that in most of the categories in which "Jodhaa-Akbar" ended up winning, its rival "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" wasn't even nominated. Regarding Shahrukh's popularity, it is reasonable to assume that his film would have swept almost all the awards - if nominated.

Aamir
Aamir Khan, whose "Taare Zameen Par" was nominated this year because it was impossible for German speaking fans to see the Film legally last year, proved a strong contender winning three awards. Closest of all in the category "breakthrough role - male" where young Darsheel Safary bested his closest rivals Ranbid Kapoor and Imran Khan only by a couple of votes. Similarly close was the race in the category "best singer - female" where three singers ended up delivering a suspenseful photo finish.

Surprises
There weren't that many surprises however. Everyone who has observed the German speaking Bollywood community over the years could have easily predicted the wins of "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi", Shahrukh Khan and Kajol (for "U Me Aur Hum") because of the unbroken popularity of the Shahrukh-Kajol jodi. "Jodhaa-Akbar" winning best cinematography was probably the biggest surprise, showing that in due time, European fans might be voting more widespread instead of just choosing everything their favourite stars (especially Shahrukh Khan) participated in. Other surprises include the stunning win of Bipasha Basu in the "best supporting actress"-category, whereas her film "Bachna Ae Haseeno" was one of the disappointments of this year's award session by losing even the musical categories. 

Outlook
This year, 879 people took part in the online voting, which is a quarter less than in the year before. That drop is probably due to the huge success of "Om Shanti Om" in the previous year, a phenomenon that hasn't been reproduced in 2008. However, the awards still offer the most comprehensive and detailed insight into the current list of darlings of Bollywood fans in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and its surrounding countries. Therefore the ACEBA will also be held next year and proudly so. Until then, enjoy analyzing the results.

Regards
Marco,
webmaster www.molodezhnaja.ch and www.bollywoodforum.ch