MUMBAI: After a month of public voting, the BBC Asian Network in the UK has announced the Film Café Award winners. This, it says, is the only audience-voted online Bollywood award in the UK.

Shah Rukh Khan won the Best Villain award for his controversial performance in the remake of Don. His performance received as many criticisms as it did applause. Shah Rukh was asked if he now felt vindicated in light of the public votes that he received.

He said, "No, you feel vindicated if you believe in the people who give the negative reactions and I never believe in that because it was very clearly a modern day combined with the old Don version and it was targeted at an audience, which may not have seen the old Don.

"We can just assume that the older audience did not like the film but the younger audiences, who we aimed the film at, really enjoyed it. I feel I did a good job and I liked what I did in Don."

He was even more defiant towards his critics when he spoke to Film Café about his role in Khabhi Alvida Naa Khena, where he plays an adulterous husband.

He remarked, "I have been working for many years ... I get surprised that critics get confused between the actor and the role. In Khabhi Alvida Naa Khena I play a guy who is not nice, sleeps with someone else's wife but that's a character. You play a grittier character the critics have a problem with that. It's the ticket-paying audience that counts at the end of the day".

Aamir Khan was voted Best Actor in the awards for his work in Rang De Basanti. He said, "I am overwhelmed by the response of the audience. It was a difficult film to do as an actor. I am really moved by the response. Film and award ceremonies are so subjective and I don't take award nights seriously – the film has been made for the audience and they have loved it and that is of prime importance to me."

Rang De Basanti won the overall vote in four of the eight categories, including best film.