Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukherjee win Star's Sabsey Favourite Kaun Awards 2006

The battles were close in practically every category, with leads changing hands practically, every day of the 30 day national voting period. But at the end, when the dust settled, this is how the picture looked:

The Sabsey Favourite Hero category surprised no one by boiling down to a battle between the Khans – Shahrukh & Salman, with Shahrukh Khan winning almost by a hair's breadth. It just proved once again that while Shahrukh is truly King Khan, the masses adoration for Salman remains undiminished despite all his recent travails. Bengali beauty Rani Mukerji was crowned Sabsey Favourite Heroine with competition from Aishwarya Rai.and Rani's cousin Kajol. The results are testimony to the enduring popularity of the Mukerji cousins Rani has had no releases since almost a year, and Kajol has had none after Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in 2002. Sanjay Leela Bhansali's BLACK laid to rest all arguments about it being the favourite of only the classes with the masses declaring it a clear winner in the Sabsey Favourite Film category. In the Sabsey Favourite Naya Hero category the fight was really close between Kunal Kapoor and Kunal Khemu, with Kunal Kapoor coming through in the end. Doe eyed Vidya Balan won the Sabsey Favourite Nayi Heroine , pipping Katrina Kaif to the post. The Sabsey Favourite Comic Hero saw a hat trick as Paresh Rawal bagged the award for the third year in a row. The Sabsey Tez Sitara Award – the only award not voted in by fans, but where film industry experts pick out the rising star who has made the most strides in the last one year- went to John Abraham. He followed in the footsteps of Abhishek Bachchan who had won last year.

Last but not the least, an award that holds a special meaning for the lakhs of fans who voted in: The Sabsey Bada Fan Award: Mrs. Madhuri M. Madekar from Kalyan had participated in the Sabsey Bada Fan contest was crowned the Sabsey Bada Fan: the fan who voted the most number of times for the eventual winner.

Of course, it was not just about the awards. The performances were stunning as well. The night was filled with excitement as Trickbaby from London performed their megahits from Bluffmaster. What's more, the video of the song 'Nine Parts of Desire', featuring Abhishek Bachchan, was unveiled for the first time, at the awards ceremony. Udita Goswami & Kunal Khemu rocked the event as they performed a medley of Himesh Reshammiya songs - remixed to reflect the various musical forms of the country. So don't be surprised if you hear "Jhalak Dikhla Jaa" in Bharatnatyam beats or "Laagi Laagi" in Bhangra style.

Tanushree Dutta with Vinay Pathak & Suresh Menon of the Great Indian Comedy Show showed viewers what it would be like in 2006 when the all-time classics of Hindi cinema – Sholay, Amar Akbar Anthony, Don & more are remade. Hilarious skits on the theme with classic numbers from those films remixed made for compelling viewing. Fardeen Khan performed on the theme "The Many Moods of Fardeen". The show stopper was Hrithik Roshan; in a thrilling performance tracking his journey from 'Koi Mil Gaya' to 'Krrish'. This was also his first ever stage performance based on 'Krrish'. The whole performance was specially choreographed by ace choreographer Ganesh Hegde. The Host with the Most Arshad Warsi and his spunky wife Maria Goretti hosted the show and had the audience in splits with their one liners. Viewers will certainly have a treat when Star Gold telecasts the event on the 14th of May at 8 pm.

And it is the viewers themselves who have chosen the nominees as well as the winners of Star Gold's Schwarzkopf Palette Sabsey Favourite Kaun 2006- the only awards show were winners are honoured for their popularity and not performances in a particular film. While the Sabsey Favourite Kaun Election Express covered 45 towns & 24,000 kms to collect almost 1 lakh votes from fans to create the nomination lists, more than 8 Lakh votes came in through sms, the internet ( indya.com ) and televoting to choose the final winners. In all, almost 9 lakh votes from India as well as countries as far flung as Afghanistan, Peru, Bahrain, Tanzania, Mozambique, Bangladesh , and of course, USA, UK & the Middle East were cast to choose the eventual winners. Today it all came together for the grand finale.

Get your popcorn ready for 8 pm this Sunday, 14 th May, when the spectacular ceremony will be telecast on Star Gold.

Inox were the Multiplex partners for the event, indya.com the official website and RED FM the official radio partner. All the trophies (the gold bricks) were crafted specially by Gilli.