Flowing, elaborate, layered and slinky Western dresses scored over the India sari or shalwar kameez for most Bollywood actresses at the green carpet of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Macau on June 13.While only few actresses such as Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta stuck to the graceful six-yard drape, most others like Bipasha Basu, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse, Genelia D'Souza, Sushmita Sen, Dia Mirza, Amrita Rao and others proudly showed off their curves in body hugging Western attires.
"A sari for me is just six yards of beautiful draping. I love sari and I was feeling very 'desi' (Indian) tonight, so I decided to wear a sari. I think it flatters a woman's body the best," said Priyanka, who flaunted a striking beige and pink Manish Malhotra creation.
Aishwarya wore a mint coloured, subdued, yet heavily embellished creation by designer duo Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla and looked extremely eye-catching walking in toe with husband Abhishek Bachchan.
Bipasha, Kangana and Sushmita were the best dressed among those who opted for the Western silhouette.
While Bipasha wore an electric blue dress by Delhi-based designer sisters Gauri and Nainika Karan, Kangana wore a pristine white wedding dress-like attire by Rick Roy. Sushmita, looked fit and slender in a slim, long Roberto Cavalli number.
"My dress weighs 25 kg. It is a very fairytale like dress and I always wanted one like this. But the weight doesn't matter. For girls, as long as they look good, they don't mind anything," said Kangana, who walked away with an IIFA award for her performance in Madhur Bhandarkar's "Fashion".
Star wives Sussanne Roshan and Mallika Khan (Zayed Khan's wife) too walked the green carpet wearing exquisite gowns.
The men gave the women a neck-to-neck competition on the fashion quotient.
The bow-tie look seemed very much like the flavour of the season with Abhishek Bachchan and Arjun Rampal flaunting the same.
Hrithik Roshan, who was named the IIFA style icon of the year, ended up making a major fashion faux pas by wearing silver formal shoes for the ceremony, where he was also named the best actor in a leading role for "Jodhaa Akbar".
