Truly a glittering IIFA, 09 as galaxy of stars descend on Macau

The stage was definitely glittering as the 10th edition of the India International Film Academy (IIFA) awards took place on June 13  evening as a galaxy of stars from Mumbai's tinsel town descending on the scenic tourist destination of Macau, the costal enclave of China. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan declared open the extravaganza. It was held at the exotic Venetian Macao-Resort Hotel.

Close to 12,000 guests flew in from all the over world, to witness history in the making. The 3 days program had different pricing scheme: a one day, two day or three days ticket. The final 3rd day finale show lasted for about 5 hours.

The International Indian Film Academy completes its decade this year and megastar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the three-day-long event by planting a lotus, the official flower of both India and Macau, a special administrative region of China. The awards are often called 'Bollywood's Oscars' but the 66-year-old actor said that he did not subscribe to the view because he does not approve of the constant comparison with Hollywood.

He added that while the Indian film industry may not be able to match up to Hollywood's technological polish, but had enough talent to compete with the West. "Why can't we be proud of what we are doing rather than comparing our self with others? The west is west and the east is east. Let both of them exist in their own world. What is wrong with the Indians?" the actor said.

The emcee hosts of this event were Lara Dutta, Actors Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh.  The Brand Ambassador of IIFA is Superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

Amitabh, Abishek and his beautiful Aishwara Rai, Ashutosh Gowarikar. Bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan, the sultry Bipasha Basu, David Dhawan and Vashu Bhagnani, writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar and his wife Shabana Azmi were present. Govinda, Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta also attended this award ceremony and were also promoting their new movie “Do Knot Disturb” which was unveiled last June 12 by Big pictures. The cricketer cum dancer Sreesanth has managed to take out time for the 10th IIFA Awards in Macau, and so did Neil Nitin Mukesh and Anushka Sharma. Our own Sindhi Jackky Bhagnani did a dance number.
Three child stars of the multiple Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire stole the limelight as they walked the green carpet at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) event with panache. The child stars, Tanay Chheda, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, sent the paparazzi into overdrive, clicking away furiously as the trio walked the green carpet with great confidence on the opening day of the IIFA in Macau on Thursday evening.

Here are the lists of the awards:
Bollywood director Ashutosh Gowarikar's historical love epic 'Jodhaa Akbar' swept the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards here, taking home trophies for best picture, best director and best actor for heartthrob Hrithik Roshan. The film faced stiff competition from 'Ghajini', 'A Wednesday', 'Dostana', 'Rock On' and 'Race'.  The movie had 10 nominations in various categories.

Best actress award went to Priyanka Chopra for “Dostana” and Abishek also won the best comedy award for this movie. Oscar-winning musician A R Rahman won the best music director award for the same film. Javed Akhtar walked away with best lyricist trophy for his score 'Jashn-e-Bahara' while, Javed Ali bagged best playback singer (male) award for the same movie.

After winning Filmfare for best supporting role, actor Arjun Rampal scored at IIFA too for his performance as a struggling guitarist for 'Rock On'.

The other winners in the key categories were Kangana Ranaut, who won best supporting role for her performance as a troubled supermodel in 'Fashion', Akshaye Khanna won the best negative role for 'Race', Neeraj Pandey scooped the trophy for best story for his film on terrorism 'A Wednesday'. He also won the technical award of best scriptwriter for the same film

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who has been skipping the IIFA awards apparently due to his rivarly with its brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, was honoured with the Star of the Decade award while AB’s daughter in law Aishwarya Rai beside winning the female star of the decade was also honoured with a special award for an outstanding achievement in international cinema. Priyanka Chopra received the award on behalf of superstar SRK. Hrithik Roshan and dusky beauty Bipasha Basu were honoured with the Bollywood Style Icon awards
Best Male playback singer award went to Javed Ali for crooning ‘Jashn-e-bahaara’ in ‘Johdaa Akbar’. This movie bagged the maximum technical awards, ace designer Neeta Lulla walked away with the best costume design for this movie, while best editing trophy went to Ballu Saluja and best art direction was given to Nitin Chandrakant Desai. Indeed this historical romance movie had Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai shown one of their best performances ever.

The best female playback singer award went to Shreya Ghoshal for ‘Teri ore’ in the super hit romantic comedy ‘Singh is Kinng’.
Director-turned actor Farhan Akhtar won the best male debutant ward of the year for ‘Rock On’, while Jason West got his best cinematography award for the same movie. Both these awardees were not present here at Macau.
 Asin Thottumkal got the female version award for her debut acting in the action thriller ‘Ghajini’. Resul Pokkutty, the one who had won the award for his work in ‘Slum dog Millionaire’ bagged the best editing trophy for Aamir Khan Starrer ‘’Ghajini’.
‘Desi girl’ gave Farah Khan her award for being the best choreographer. This song from the movie “Dostana” featured Abishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra and John Abraham

A highlight of this year’s IIFA awards was the performances by “new kids-on-the-block” Jacky Bhagnani and Sonam Kapoor. Sonam is the daughter of Anil Kapoor, while Jacky is the son of Sindhi producer Vashu Bhagnani. VB movie “Kal Kisne Dekha” was released one day earlier than the awards, and has proven to be a success.

Ever since he stepped into Bollywood in 2000, Hrithik wowed the audiences with a variety of roles in films like Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, Krrish, Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar. His fans are now waiting for Kites in which he plays a dance teacher. Model-turned-actress Bipasha Basu was initially known for her sexy image but has proved her acting prowess too in films like Corporate and Omkara. She was also appreciated for her performance in last year’s slick action thriller Race.

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s wax figure, which was unveiled at the Madame Tussauds museum in New York last month, has been especially flown in to be showcased at the awards event here. The statue of Amitabh’s is being displayed at the all-new Bollywood Zone at Madame Tussauds, New York and is dressed in a traditional black sherwani suit with a heavily embroidered gold and black shawl. This is the first Bollywood figure to be installed at this new zone. This statue was the centre of attraction of the first day, was placed on a green carpet and many grabbed a chance to pose with the statue.
This year's IIFA was expected to be a pale affair in comparison to last year's celebration in Bangkok, Thailand as some of the biggest stars of Bollywood including the three Khans, Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman along with Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra have decided to give the event a miss. Shahid Kapur has pulled out of attending the upcoming Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Macau due to an incomplete patchwork shoot for an untitled film by Ken Ghosh.

"I was looking forward to performing at IIFA and showcasing Kaminey. However, my commitment to my producer has to be honoured. I regret being unable to attend this year" Shahid said in a statement. The actor, who plays a double role in Kaminey and is paired with Priyanka Chopra, was also supposed to perform at the event to promote the film but had to cancel it at the eleventh hour.

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt wanted to attend the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, but had to skip it because he was committed to shooting for Ajay Devgan's 'All The Best'. He has just finished campaigning for the Samajwadi party and had to cacth up with his commitment. Efforts were made to convince him, and Andre Timmins from the organizer’s group “Wizcraft” flew down to Goa twice, and the fact being that Sanjay is very close to the Bachchan family, yet the profession call was stronger the entertainment call.

Despite that, the show was a super hit. However the highlight of the evening extravaganza at the Kotai Arena of the grand Venetian hotel was the lifetime achievement award for yesteryear’s superstar Rajesh Khanna. The honor was presented to the veteran actor by none other than his co-star of many movies--Amitabh Bachchan. The mega star expressed his appreciation for Khanna with a short speech. Khanna hugged Bachchan before saying that it was after 16 years that they were sharing the same platform. The emotional actor addressed Bachchan with his famous screen name 'Babu Moshay' from Anand. The IIFA award, which is celebrating its decade of magic, saw performances by debutants Sonam Kapoor, Jackky Bhagnani, Anushka Sharma and Govinda, Sushmita Sen and others.

However, Bollywood's A-list couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan scored over everyone with their scintillating performances. Aishwarya made a dramatic entrance in a 'palki' to perform around the theme of 'Jodhaa Akbar'. The actress brought her charm, which was complemented by her graceful movements. Abhishek, who was the last one to perform, made an electric entry to the stage. The actor began his dance from the back stage on 'Delhi-6' making the audiences stand-up in the hall. The actor made them dance and sing to his tunes before moving up to the stage to groove on the hit numbers from his movies.

The awards had included a special category 'Award of the decade' to celebrate its journey and trophies of them are -Aishwarya Rai won the 'Actress of Decade', Shah Rukh Khan 'Actor of Decade' and 'Lagaan' the 'film of the decade. Aishwarya also bagged the trophy of 'Global face of Indian Cinema.

The award ceremony, which also champions the cause of environment honored actor-activist Rahul Bose for his contribution for the cause with a special award. Best debut performance awards went to Asin for her role in 'Ghajini' and Farhan Akhtar for his debut in 'Rock On'.
Indeed it was a great show. Our Congratulations.
Some highlights:

• The fashion show where actor Hrithik Roshan and his wife Suzanne walked the ramp together for the first time.
• Manoj Lachmandas of Hong Kong, who came in with his wife Rochelle, truly enjoyed the show.
• The Venetian Hotel had increased their rates because of IIFA, according to Renu of Chandigarh.
• Jaymeet Singh of Dubai was flying high because of his meet with Aishwarya &  Abhishek Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Boman Irani, Lara Dutta and Govinda. He still could not locate AB.
• The local media being not familiar with the famous faces were relentlessly asking their Indian counterparts for star spotting.

Anil Kapoor, Peter Andre, Lara Dutta and Sushmita Sen at IIFA 2009

• It was six-year-old Vinay from Delhi who stood atop the barricade to attract the stars who walked away with the maximum number of autographs as celebrities walked the green carpet to attend the world renowned Zaia Cirque Du Soleil show at the hotel
• IIFA is no longer just an awards ceremony, according the great AB. Campaign against global warming, tourism boost to hosting countries, university scholarships... the annual IIFA weekend is testimony to how Bollywood — a term Bachchan loathes but is clearly the only linguistic connect abroad — has touched many lives on foreign shores.
• Look at the revenues: from $10 million for Singapore in 2004 to $20 million in 2008-2010, IIFA has had a healthy “direct economic impact” on the country where it has landed. “India is a very important market for both Macau and our hotel,” said Mark Russell, senior vice-president of sales and marketing of the Venetian. “By hosting the IIFA weekend, we want to develop that market.” Interestingly, it’s also the 10th anniversary of the handover of Macau to China.
• Anamika Khanna showcased her designs in the fashion show.
• Many were glued at the tables of the Venetian casino, the largest casino in the world. “We have lost a lot at your tables,” announced Lara while Boman was quick to add “we will gain it back at your restaurants”.
• Talk of globalisation! Remember Peter Andre? Yeah, yeah the guy who sang one song in his life — Mysterious girl! Well, he  suddenly turned out to be the international attraction at this award. In the past, IIFA has had some international guests. Angelina Jolie, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Colin Firth.
• Sushmita Sen wearing all black walked into the casino at Venetian Macau Resort Hotel. Then, after losing a couple of games, she wanted her cigarette back, for one more puff. This went on for some time and after a total of 15 minutes of play, Sush walked away. P.S. She was last seen on one of the high rollers’ table and the word was she was still losing
• Vashu Bhagnani had a sticker plastered on his shirt which read “Turbojet”. Vashu had reached Macau in the morning and this was in the evening and he still had the ferry sticker on his shirt. Clearly, the tension of launching his son (Jackky) on Friday was getting to poor Vashu.
• Amitabh Bachchan had a tired look and a tight schedule. The 11 am media conference took place at 1.30, and yet AB came in at 2.15 pm. He was armed with about 20 security men.
• Shah Rukh Khan last attendance was in Amsterdam in 2005.
• Another highlight of the five hour long event was the 'Antakshari' where all the stars including Big B sang. The mega star sang 'Mere Pass aao mere dosto' and 'Kabhi-Kabhi' to a thundering crowd.
• Hrithik Roshan's rendition of 'Yara Teri Yaari Ko' was also met with a thundering applause. The other stars who turned singer for the night were Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Sonam Kapoor and Bipasa Basu.

 

Copyright by Vishnu Hathiramani, Manila, Philippines. Log on to www.sindhitattler.com and www.rpindia.info for more info. Article may be posted or reprinted provided acknowledgment is given.