By Subhash K Jha

Emraan Hashmi and film awards don't go together. After his candid declarations expressing skepticism about the veracity and validity of awards he had to skip the one awards function that he agreed to attend in Singapore, and that too when his film Shanghai was being premiered there.

Finally Kalki Koechlin , Abhay Deol and Dibakar Bannerjee walked the green carpet and attended the premiere of Shanghai.

Speaking from Singapore Dibakar said, "Emraan couldn't be here with us. He is down with a gastro ailment. So we've left him to look after the Mumbai ilaaka while we're here in Singapore. "

So far Dibakar is gratified by the response he is been getting. "I haven't seen any of the reviews. But I've heard they're positive. Over here in Singapore the best response I got was from Javed Akhtar Saab who held my hand and said the film has shaken him.

Considering how politically astute he is, Javed Saab's reaction was important. Shabana too loved the film. She liked Farouq Shaikh's performance the best. "

Dibakar can't wait to get back to Mumbai. "I am not looking at just critical praise. Shanghai has to do well so that more doors would open for a more serious-toned kind of entertainment. "