I woke up at 6.30 am to watch the Golden Globes on a cold Delhi morning and here is how it went

Watching the major American award ceremonies in India can be quite a hassle as there is no one proper TV channel or streaming platform to watch them. Depending upon the viewership rights, the awards keep on changing their homes every year. In India, the Oscars usually stream on Hotstar but in 2021, without any warning, they didn’t stream anywhere. It just prompted me and my friends to resort to some illegal YouTube stream. Desperate times, desperate measures!

When it comes to the significant Oscar precursor Golden Globes, I often used to watch the ceremony on VH1 but now, it has been years since I have had a TV set (“Who even watches TV anymore?” is a common Gen-Z motto now). This year, the Globes were to be telecast live for Indian viewers on the Lionsgate Play app. 

Now, for me and my fellow “awards pundits”, this proved to be a major concern. “Who even uses Lionsgate Play?” “What is Lionsgate Play?” “Why is Lionsgate Play?” “Why are we film nerds this serious about watching the awards live?” These were common thoughts we shared. 

As per the Indian Standard Time (IST), the Globes were to be broadcast today (January 11) morning at around 6.30 am (5.30 am for the red carpet enthusiasts). So, with just a few hours left for the ceremony, I decided to take a step on the night before. 

I asked a friend who said that a boy that she “matched” with on a dating app might have it. The boy might have been stingy as he gave a negative reply when she asked him. With no hope in sight, I decided to get a Lionsgate Play subscription myself. The fees for a month was Rs 149. Hastily filling in the monetary details, my debit card underwent the transaction but for some reason, I could still not access any content on the app. I logged out and logged in again and the situation was the same. 

So yes, if any Lionsgate Play employee is reading this, GIVE BACK MY MONEY!

Faced with uncertainty and desperation, I finally called up my father to do something that I usually am not fond of: asking him for a favour. It turns out that he already has a Lionsgate Play subscription. While the app does have some critically-acclaimed titles such as Normal People and Knives Out, who would have enough money to spare on a vague streaming app like this? So, yes after my father told me he had a Lionsgate Play subscription, I could’ve said “Why though?” But on this night, he proved to be quite the saviour and so an apt “Thank you” was my response. 

Now we have somehow procured a working Lionsgate Play account (unlike mine) and are ready for the Globes in the morning. But here’s the problem. THE MORNING.

I am a late riser. Ever since the coldwave has intensified in Delhi with 500+ AQI and low-visibility smog, I have turned into an extra-late riser. Never would I imagine opening my eyes and popping my head out of the blanket at 6.30 am. But well, science nerds have their Artemis launch(es) on a NASA live stream and football fanatics have their FIFA matches on a glitchy Jio Cinema. So, for me as a “cinephile dudebro”, awards like Golden Globes are as important.

So, I did undertake the courageous task of waking up in this winter morning. Was the ceremony worth it? 

Kind of. The Golden Globes has always been a mixed bag and in fact, last year the organising committee (the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) didn’t hold the ceremony at all following accusations of white-washed nominees (among other issues) in today’s woke times. While such awards are no champions of representation and might just rely on tokenistic diversity, why I love watching the Globes is the controversy that can come out of alcohol. 

Unlike Oscars, BAFTAs, and the like, Golden Globes is relatively “chill”. The nominees are often seated at round tables with food and drink to enjoy as the formalities continue. More than often, the stars end up drinking a bit too much. This year was no exception. 

Host Jerrod Carmichael started the ceremony with a sarcastic dig at the Globes itself saying, “I’m here because I’m black.” And while he was witty enough for the rest of the ceremony, it’s the drunken shenanigans that amused me (as expected). 

When The White Lotus picked up the Globe for Best Limited Series, showrunner Mike White seemed too overwhelmed to give a speech. A visibly sloshed White ended up confessing how he drank quite a lot on an empty stomach as by the time he had reached his table, the food was over. 

House of the Dragon’s win in the Best Drama Series category was equally amusing with actress Milly Alcock drunkenly dilly dallying on the stage while director-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik showing equal levels of “sloshiness” as he ended up cheering for Severance (whose first season was also competing in the same category) even saying that he would want to blend the two shows together. 

But yes, all the drama aside, this was a year of some pleasant wins.

Michelle Yeoh expectedly picked up the trophy for Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical for Everything Everywhere All At Once with a moving speech where she also revealed that she’s 60 years old (I still refuse to believe it). RRR’s much-celebrated win for Best Original Song was another highlight and hopefully, Naatu Naatu will bag an Oscar too if we are to go with the current awards statistics. 

I can write a thousand more words explaining my joy and disappointment with every single win but I won’t bore you with the details. But in the end, I will just quote Eddie Murphy’s pearls of wisdom that were delivered on the Globes stage last night (or this morning in my case). Murphy, whom I personally adore as an actor and comedian, was honoured with the Cecil B DeMille award (basically the Globes equivalent of lifetime achievement). While he’s no stranger to exaggerated physical mannerisms and cheeky comedy, Murphy gave a surprisingly calm acceptance speech. And then, right in the end, he dropped the bomb.