The audience was left mesmerised as the two children from the shanties of Mumbai entered the show area with gleam in their eyes and literally refused to budge from the head of the ramp. They happily obliged the shutterbugs even as the audience kept waiting for them to finish feeling like the ultimate stars of the show.
They stood still until designer duo Ashima-Leena Singh, for whom they walked the ramp, led them away. But the audience kept clapping and cheering the duo for their confidence and innocence.
While Rubina, 9, wore a gypsy skirt and a sleeveless embroidered top with stone-work and accesorised with a trendy maang-tika, Azharuddin, 10, sported a black sherwani with red Palestinian embroidery.
"I gave Rubina a gypsy skirt because it goes well with her look. And the maang-tika brought an Indianness to the entire look, " Ashima told after the show.
Before the show, both children, who are enjoying their newfound fame after the film by British director Danny Boyle won eight Oscars recently, said that they weren't nervous, but were excited to be at the event.
Cameramen didn't want to miss a single opportunity of capturing the several poses that the young stars went on striking until they were taken away. While Azharuddin stood with his chin high and hands folded, as if he were megastar Amitabh Bacchan, little Rubina kept twirling to show off her skirt.
Apart from these star attractions, other designers gave a thumbs up to Ashima-Leena's collection, which comprised flared trousers, full-length gowns, kaftans, capes and jackets in vibrant colours like red, peach, blue, green et al.
The fabrics used were lustrous and ranged from silks to velvets to georgettes and had motifs of Ikat and Chintz, images of antique weaves and embroideries, stamped on them. These were reworked with fine beads, sequins and threads.