Recalls Karan Johar, "Aamir gave a rousing speech on Yashji. In fact Yashji was honoured for being the only Bollywood filmmaker to have made successful Hindi films from the black-and-white era to the present day. They couldn't find a parallel to him in cinema anywhere in the world."
While Aamir Khan held a Master Class on Rang De Basanti, Preity Zinta conducted her class on Farhan Akhtar's Dil Chahta Hai.
Says Karan, "During my master class on K3G the questions I was asked were really something. Someone asked me why Shah Rukh was seen with his shoes on in water in the Suraj hua madhyam song in K3G. It was quite a question.
I was also asked about the difference between the masters of the earlier years and those who are making films today. I spoke about how we of today are scared of silences. For instance there's a shared moment of silence between Shah Rukh and Rani in KANK.
I had to fill the soundtrack with thunder and lightening. I explained why we need to structure the sound and visuals in a particular way to fit a given format.
For example the emotional graph has to be timed with the interval. And after interval we have to have a buffer-block where we give audiences a chance to get back into their seats before the plot proceeds.
I also explained why our films are misunderstood to be musicals. That in fact the songs don't manoeuvre the story. All in all, it was fabulous experience. It showed how far Bollywood has infiltrated into the European psyche."
The star of the weekend was undoubtedly Shah Rukh Khan. Sweeping the British press off its collective feet he was at his witty best in the QA with the British Press. At the dinner hosted by steel tycoon Mittal, British actress Emma Thompson was quite taken up by Shah Rukh. She expressed a sincere wish to work with him.
Says Karan, "The Mittals were grace-personified. Their son is my friend. And they've the highest regard for Bollywood. So we bonded. Shah Rukh's impact has to be seen to be believed. He has had the maximum number of hit films on the British charts.
The British reacted to him with amazing hysteria. Gurinder Chaddha conducted an interview with him where Shah Rukh was in his element. Yup, he was clearly the star of the Bollywood Weekend."