When Alia Bhatt walked on to the stage to collect the Life OK Hero Award (Female), she called it “poetic justice”. Bhatt recounted that when she would play games such as “actress, actress” as a kid with her girlfriends, she would always end up playing the “hero”. In just a few years, Bhatt, now 21, has made an impressive turnaround in her career that started with a teenybopper act in her debut film Student of the Year (2012). She followed it up with her fearless, risky turn in Highway, Imtiaz Ali’s spin on Stockholm syndrome — where she plays a rich Delhi girl who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after she is kidnapped by a truck driver — that won her the award. Even Shah Rukh Khan, who hosted a segment of the show, said he had watched some portions of Highway, and that he was a fan. When Khan requested Bhatt to enact the crazy, impromptu jig from the film with him, she matched steps with the superstar, lighting up the stage with her youthful effervescence.

There were many such moments in the 21st Life OK Screen Awards, where youngsters ruled the roost, debutantes made an impact and young stars took a step closer to establishing their stardom. This year’s awards will be remembered for the sheer energy that was showcased in the performances, apart from some interesting anchoring. This apart, young actors also made their presence felt in a number of award categories with their nominations. Ali Fazal and Sapna Pabbi, awaiting the release of Khamoshiyan, took charge of anchoring a segment. Television star Gurmeet Choudhary, who is making his debut with the film, put up quite a show, entering on horseback.

Varun Dhawan also announced his arrival in the big league, with a first-ever Best Actor nomination at the Screen Awards, rubbing shoulders with Bollywood megastars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Hrithik Roshan, for his charming romantic fool act in Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya. The 27-year-old, who has raked up a fan-following pretty soon, exuded confidence in his high-voltage performance that included balancing deft dance moves and dangerous stunts. Midway through the performance, Dhawan lost his balance and injured his foot. But he recovered quickly and resumed his act.

The actor danced to Jee karda from his upcoming Badlapur, Besharmi ki height and Saturday Saturday, as he made his way to the other end of the venue filled with graffiti-painted cars. Another stunning highlight of the evening was the performance by Shraddha Kapoor. She has had a successful 2014 with two diverse films, Ek Villain and Haider. She danced to Teri galiyan (reprise), her singing debut from Ek Villain, before moving on to other tracks. Another star kid who delivered a scintillating performance was Tiger Shroff. The Heropanti actor made his debut performance at the awards memorable with a demonstration of acrobatic stunts and agile dance steps. Dancing to the tunes of Whistle baja, he showed his mettle as an entertainer. One of tinseltown’s latest heartthrobs, Sidharth Malhotra, made the evening entertaining with his fine anchoring skills, showed maturity with comic timing, kept the crowd engrossed and made sure the proceedings on the stage were smooth.

Now, over to the GenNext of entertainers.