IIFA hitting Toronto this year
The International Indian Film Academy known as IIFA will be hosting a three-day sensational awards event June 23rd to the 25th in North America, Toronto.
This is now the 12th year of the IIFA awards but surprisingly they have never been held in Bollywood’s homeland, India. IIFA claims that foreign host sites heighten the show’s glamour for the Bollywood press. They have previously been held in countries such as the U.K., South Africa, the Netherlands and China.
Organisers of the star studded event say that, with the star power and high TV ratings that the IIFA show attracts, it has become Bollywood’s Oscar equivalent.
Director of IIFA Sabbas Joseph said on the Globe and Mail: “We consider this a landmark event, huge in proportion; it is the highest-rated, most-watched television Indian event. It has a viewership of 700 million to 800 million globally.”
He added: “The difference between this and the Oscars is that our film stars sing and dance, compared to Hollywood stars. So the stars themselves provide the entertainment of the night.”
Other awards events include a gala screening in Brampton, a major centre of Toronto’s Indian community; a music and fashion show for Canadian and Indian designers, including Indian singers and movie stars; and a convention in Toronto for Canadian and Indian businesses.
Actor Anil Kapoor, who played the game-show host in Slumdog Millionaire, is currently in Toronto helping to promote the hugely anticipated awards show.
Because of the amount of attention paid to Bollywood film stars, the focus on Toronto in the months to come will be huge. In India, public appearances by film stars often create massive crowds. Anil said: “People from all ages react the same way. They all become like teenagers.”
IIFA would like to export at least a small taste of that excitement. As 40 percent of Bollywood’s total box office revenues come from outside of India. So crossover international hits are increasingly becoming a key part to Indian cinema.
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan who allegedly has fallen out with the IIFA organisers has reportedly been replaced as spokesman for the event. He didn’t attend last year and by the sounds of it he won’t be making an appearance this year either.
FemaleFirst Haleema Shabir