Celina Jaitly Had a 007-Themed Show in London

The name's Bond! Celina Bond!

Celina Jaitly arrives in an Aston Martin (above) and makes an entry at the City Pavilion event

Celina Jaitly is back in Mumbai after her New Year's Eve show in London. The actress was stricken by English flu post the event, and rushed back to Mumbai. "But I am okay now," says the actress who begins shooting for Subhash Ghai's Hello Darling.

As reported, ('No jhatke… zara hatke'; Hitlist, December 31) Celina had decided that. for a change, she would not do a regular dance performance but only interact with guests.

Arriving in an Aston

The event held at the City Pavilion in Romford in London had a James Bond theme. Keeping with 007 tradition, Celina arrived at the venue in an Aston Martin — Bond's legendary conveyance of choice. Her entry was to the accompaniment of 007's theme track.

Says the actress, "I felt like James Bond! It was a black tie event with the women dressed in gowns. I did the countdown to the accompaniment of Bond's signature tune with a gigantic confetti-filled crystal ball —— as seen in his films — being busted to the tunes of Happy New Year."Apart from the NRIs, the crowd consisted of Bangladeshis, Iranians, Filippinos, Pakistanis and from the Middle East. Says Celina, "On such occasions, you realise the reach of Bollywood. They are all so clued to the films and the actors. It was incredible and I was happy to interact with the Hindi film buffs."

At the event, one young girl was dressed up in an identical gown that Celina wore in Shaka Laka Boom Boom. "She had seen the movie and wanted a similar attire that Manish Malhotra had designed. The gown had some thousands of crystals on it — and she had the same amount of her gown! While a South Indian family who had seen me in Golmaal Returns talking in Tamil, thought I actually spoke the language in real life!"

Who else performed

The event was organised by Rishi Mashru of City Pavilion and managed by Carving Dreams. It also had singers like Javed Ali and Rishi Rich among others performing. The highlights of the show will be aired on B4U later this month.