Akshay's New Year gig comes as a surprise

Everyone wondered why Akshay Kumar dedicated his performance at Reliance Broadcast Network's Big Star awards held last week in Mumbai, to the New Year when it wasn't even Christmas time as yet!

It turned out that Akshay's performance was targeted at being telecast on New Year's Eve on a channel. But to the awards nominees, who were present at the venue of the awards on Tuesday evening, it did appear mighty odd that Akshay was singing and dancing about the New Year 9 days in advance.

Said one of the stars present at the awards, "It was quite funny, really. Akshay was welcoming the year 2011 on December 21 2010. We all wondered if he was trying to prove he was ahead of his times."

When contacted, Tarun Katial, Chief Executive Officer Reliance Broadcast Network Ltd, explained, "Akshay's New Year gig was part of his Tees Maar Khan act. Since his performance was going to be part of the telecast of our awards on New Year's Eve we decided to include it."

Incidentally, live performances at other awards functions, if targeted at a specific date, are recorded separately from the function.

Says Akshay, "The New Year bit was part of my Tees Maar Khan act. Anything for my film. Also, Mr Bachchan came and joined me on stage for an impromptu jig. After that time ceased to matter for me. I didn't care if it was Christmas or New Years."