The 53rd National Film Awards were given out at Vigyan Bhawan on Friday after a delay of nearly two years.

The award-winners and the I&B Ministry had reason to breathe a sigh of relief, but there were mutterings in other quarters not about who won and who didn't, nor about absentees or dissenters.

The ripple concerned a handshake that wasn't.

I&B Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi failed to shake Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan's hand and the lapse, even if inadvertent, has stirred the Bachchan fan club.

Bachchan snubbed at National Awards screamed a headline in a leading daily, overlooking the fact that the minister didn't shake hands with any of the award winners.

The fixation with "All Things Bachchan" caused additional media comment, giving it a twist in a political city where every move is scrutinised.

The Bachchan children - Abhishek and Shweta - were seated in a back row, said newspaper reports, and asked why Jaya Bachchan and close family friend and party colleague Amar Singh looked grim in a row reserved for MPs.

A case of not shaken, yet stirred!