And the award goes to...well, not to Arshad Warsi

Jun 15, 2008 Subhash K Jha

Mumbai, June 15 (IANS) When the National Awards were announced, Arshad Warshi was inundated with congratulatory calls for winning the best supporting actor award for "Lage Raho Munnabhai". But the bubble burst soon.

It turned out that Arshad was not the winner, but Dilip Prabhavalkar, who played Mahatma Gandhi in the film.

"First, my family and close friends saw my name being flashed on television non-stop. They rang me up to tell me I had won the National Award for 'Lage Raho..," Arshad told IANS.

"I was like, 'Yesss. I've finally done it.' Throughout the day I got congratulatory SMSs. But then in the evening the bubble burst. I was told that the guy who played Gandhi had got it."

Tough luck. But how did such a blunder happen? When the National Awards were announced wasn't it clearly stated that it was Prabhavalkar who had won it?

"People naturally presumed it was me. But I guess the jury knows best. All I can say is I was deeply disappointed after having been taken right up to the doorstep of a National Award," said the actor, who is in Pattaya shooting for a film.

"But now I can see the funnier side of it. I now know how it feels to win a National Award, so I'm fully prepared for it when it really happens," says Arshad, who after his small stint in Pattaya will head back to Mumbai to shoot for Anil Kapoor's "Shortkut..."

Arshad plays a hammy actor in "Shortkut..." "Maybe, they'll give me the National Award for that," quips Arshad.

In August, he leaves for London to shoot for his first home production. "For the first time, I'll be playing a character the way I'm fully convinced I should."

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Lage Raho Munnabhai