So a host of media from across the world gathered for the 9th International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) that was being held in "Amazing Thailand" in the heart of Bangkok from 6th to 8th June 2008. After being associated with the IIFA movement since the second one at Sun City, we once again enjoyed the pleasures of the 3 day IIFA weekend, though the event received mixed reactions for different reasons. While the fashion show was slightly above average, the main awards night suffered due to non attendance from superstars like Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Preity Zinta, Rani Mukerjee and even Shilpa Shetty.

Nevertheless it still was a memorable event as we rubbed shoulders and chatted to the likes of Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Katrina Kaif, Dino Morea, Priyanka Chopra, Harman Baweja, Vivek Oberoi, Shaan, Aditya Narayan and a host of others. Shalandra Bunseelall and photographer Vicky Naidoo (accompanied by Varshan Sookhun and his producer Pauline from Lotusfm) bring you the IIFA journey with much more still to come.

DAY ONE – 6 June 2008

The day opened with the media briefing and official IIFA press conference held at the Dusit Thani Resort, the official hospitality partner for the event. While media gathered excitedly for the official launch, the event was graced by IIFA ambassador Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya Bachchan.

Also present at the event was IIFA regular Dia Mirza and members of the Thailand government and Wizcraft management. Stars began to arrive including the likes of Govinda, Urmilla, Aditya Narayan and Kareena Kapoor. Next on the agenda was the IIFA world premiere which was held at the Siam Paragon.

 

The World Premiere: Sarkar Raj After the debacle of last years release The Train, this year the IIFA Advisory Board selected a powerful movie featuring IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan in the lead role together with his son Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Titled Sarkar Raj, the movie directed by the mighty Ram Gopal Verma was the sequel to the hit movie Sarkar. Speaking to Bollywoodsa the director said "I am happy that my movie has been selected as the IIFA premiere movie. After the success of Sarkar, it was inevitable that a sequel would be made considering the characters of the original were realistic and we had to have some natural progress with a new set of problems. Yes we are playing with the idea of making the third part but we still need to finalize the script".

The world premiere was held at the Siam Paragon and was attended by the likes of the Bachchan family, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ritesh Deshmukh, Randir Kapoor, Ram Gopal Verma, Karan Johar and a host of others. Directly after the screening the press conference kicked off with a huge round of applause for the cast and crew of Sarkar Raj - obviously the movie was hugely appreciated from media across the world.

MISSION ISTANBUL: The IIFA weekend also saw the music release of Mission Istanbul which was composed by four talented music directors including Anu Malik, Shameer Tandon, Mika and Chirantan Bhatt. While legendary actor Jeetendra was the official guest of honor, the lead cast of Zayed Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Shriya Saran, Nikin Dheer and newcomer Shweta Bhardwaj were also present to mingle with media from across the globe. The action entertainer is directed by Apoorva Lakhia who made last years hit movie Shootout at Lokhwandla and produced by Sunil Shetty's company Popcorn Entertainment. Incidentally it was Shetty who spotted newcomer Shweta Bhardwaj and signed her for this movie after he spotted her doing some commercials. When we spoke to muscular actor Nikitin Dheer (who was in Jodha Akbar) he described the movie as a high volume action thriller.

DAY TWO – 7 June 2008

The day kicked off with preview of Acid Factory & then a fantastic fashion show

ACID FACTORY: This promises to be another exciting movie with 6 guys and one gorgeous lady. The lead men are Fardeen Khan, Dino Morea, Aftab Shivdasani, Manoj Bajpai, Irfan Khan, Danny Denzongpa and Dia Mirza. While even the director Suparin Verma and producer Sanjay Gupta was at the event the only actor missing was Irfan Khan. Shot at an acid factory in Hyderabad, the thriller will soon be shot in Cape Town as well. Though the cast were tight-lipped about the suspense surrounding this movie Dino Morea, who was sporting a new image with long hair said "It's a kick ass action movie that should not be missed.

 

Acid Factory is an unusual premise for a story about 5 guys working in a factory, who wake up one morning unable to remember what happened to them in the factory they work in". Dino also denied any rumors of a blossoming romance with sexy actress Lara Dutta who recently split from boyfriend Kelly Dorjee. Leading lady Dia Mirza was full praise for the guys and was also extremely excited about bagging a leading role after playing second fiddle in numerous other projects. Gupta previously made movies like Kaante, Musafir and Dus Kahaniyaan

 

The Fashion Show: One of the highlights of this year’s IIFA weekend was the Fashion Extravaganza with leading Indian and Thai designers presenting their fashion lines at this prestigious platform, which set up by the IIFA board to support families of the film industry workers who have been adversely affected during the production of a film. Held at the Siam Paragon Hall and hosted by Karan Johar (director of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Khabi Alvida Na Kehna) the designs belonged to the likes of renowned names like Moda, Mufti, Sabyasachi, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra and Vikram Phadnis. Among the stars that modeled the showstoppers included the likes of Kareena Kapoor and Ayesha Takkia. The fashion show was also graced by the cast of Mission Istanbul and Acid Factory.

DAY THREE – 8 June 2008

The most exciting day of the IIFA Weekend. The excitement was building to the main awards and it was the day we attended the press preview of Love Story 2050, got more information on the Unforgettable World Tour and also walked the green carpet for the main Awards.

Unforgettable World Tour: Great news for fans across the world is the Unforgettable World Tour that brings together the greatest Bollywood stars on one stage. A never seen before extravaganza, the show is set to serenade 10 cities in its first leg, while South Africa has been ear-marked for two concerts which fall in the second leg of the tour which will be held in Durban and Johannesburg (Sorry, Cape Town). Lead performers of the tour include the entire Bachchan family (Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya) together with Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta, Ritesh Deshmukh and dancing Queen Madhuri Dixit and hunky Akshay Kumar, who will join certain legs of the tour only.

 

Incidentally Amitabh Bachchan confirmed that they invited Akshay Kumar to the tour after his impressive performance at last years IIFA Awards. Speaking to Bollywoodsa Abhishek said "We promise you an unforgettable experience. I remember coming to South Africa as a youngster when my father did all his shows and the love and affection has been overwhelming. We promise to bring you a really spectacular show. I have also shot some movies in South Africa and the experience has been mind-blowing". As Bachchan junior spoke to us, his gorgeous wife held on tightly. The couple was still very in love.

Movie Preview: DE TAALI: De Taali a comedy romance was showcased featuring Ayesha Takkia, Ritesh Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani and Rimi Sen in the lead roles. Speaking to us the handsome Shivdasani said "It's been an amazing experience shooting this movie which took me back to my childhood days. We had a real blast and it shows in the movie". We also caught up with our close friend Ayesha Takkia and her helpful mum Farida.

Movie Preview: LOVE STORY 2050 - Here's one event that I dared not miss. However the undoubted highlight of the movie previews was the futuristic romance titled Love Story 2050 featuring Priyanka Chopra and newcomer Harman Baweja who bares a striking resemblance to superstar Hrithik Roshan. The movie is the most expensive Bollywood movie made and deals with a romance set within time travel. Produced and directed by Harman's dad Harry Baweja, the trailers stunned the media and marked the arrival of another superstar.

 

Harman who spoke to Bollywoodsa said "I am excited about my launch though it was tough working with my father. For the first two days of shooting I asked my dad to please stay away until I became more comfortable". Harman also admitted that he was surprised that Ashutosh Gowariker was impressed by his work after seeing the rushes of Love Story 2050 and has signed the team (Harman and Priyanka) for his next movie titled Whats Your Rashee. Harman's father said " It feels great to have this movie showcased and soon due for release as we dared to do something different"

 

GLITZ AND GLAMOUR – THE END

The green carpet was laid, the fans began to scream and the stars poured in, as 9th star studded IIFA weekend came to an end in amazing Thailand with the presentation of the prestigious awards at the world class venue Siam Niramit. One of the acclaimed films of last year, a cinematic masterpiece, Chak De India, swept the Awards for Best Actor (Shahrukh Khan), Best Director (Shimit Amin) and Best Film (Yashraj Films) at the Idea IIFA Awards 2008, the highpoint and culmination of the celebrated IIFA Weekend.

The film also bagged the Award for Best Story (Jaideep Sahini). Kareena Kapoor added another feather to her cap with the title of the Best Actress for Jab We Met. Music Maestro A R Rahman won the Best Music Director for his soulful tunes in Guru. He also bagged the Awards for Best Background Score and Outstanding Contribution to International Cinema. While Shaan was rewarded for his rendition ‘Jabse Tere Naina’ from Saawariya, Shreya Ghosal was recognized with the Best Playback Singer female for Barso Se from Guru.

Though the event was complete with glitz, glamour, dazzle and colour, the event also proved that not all actors should be hosting events, as talented actress Urmilla Matonkar struggled to play the host to perfection. To up the fun quotient to the already dazzling night, Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh played the perfect hosts and kept the audience in splits with their histrionics, though at times they went overboard with their unnecessary insults of Aamir Khan (was this there way of getting back at Khan, who did not nominate Taare Zameen Par for the awards).

However despite a few glaring blunders the saving grace were guest presenters Ritesh Deshmukh and Bomani Irani. Amongst the applauds, cheers and ‘thank you speeches’, the Grand Finale- IDEA IIFA Awards 2008 was witness to scintillating performances from leading Indian Cine Stars, the likes of which have never seen before. Govinda, Katrina Kaif, Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Kumar set the stage on fire.

Akshay Kumar once again set the stage alight with a spectacular sequence featuring hit songs from Welcome, Hey Babby, Bhool Bhulaiya and the soon the be released Singh is King, which had the crowds going wild. Kumar, the Ambassador of the Green Globe Foundation also enlightened the audiences on the danger of Global Warming that lies ahead of us, a cause that IIFA has strongly been supporting since last year. He was also honored from the country of hosting and gave a heart rendering acceptance speech. The night also saw electrifying acts from The Mission Istaanbul Team (Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan, Shriya Saran, Shweta Bhardwaj, Shabbir Ahuluwalia and Niketan Dhir) and the Love Story 2050 couple (Priyanka and Harman Baweja). All the dance sequences were choreographed to immaculate perfection by Shaimak Davar.

While the Bachchans yet again dominated the event, others that attended included the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dia Mirza, Dino Morea, AR Rehman, Yash Chopra, Priyanka Chopra, Harman Baweja, Katrina Kaif, Fardeen Khan, Feroz Khan, Arshad Warsi, Vivek Oberoi, Twinkle Khanna, Sunil Shetty, Karan Johar, Ayesha Takkia and a very low key Saif Ali Khan.

Sadly however the sparkle was lost seeing that a host of other top stars failed to attend the event including Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerjee, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty. Produced and conceptualized by Wizcraft, the IIFA Awards was initiated in the year 2000 with the aim of celebrating Indian cinema across the world. IIFA also dedicated much of there time this year to focus strongly on the issues of global warming.

Over the past 8 years IIFA has traveled across the globe covering London, Sun City, Malaysia, Johannesburg, Singapore, Amsterdam, Dubai and Yorkshire. Next year promises more magic as IIFA celebrates ten magnificent years of showcasing the glory of Indian cinema.

THE BIG WINNERS

	Best Movie: Chakde India
	Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan for Chakde India
	Best Male Newcomer: Ranbir Kapoor
	Best Female Newcomer: Deepika Padukone
	Best Actress: Kareena Kapoor for Jab We Met
	Best Supporting Actor: Irfan Khan for Life in a Metro
	Best Female Singer: Shreya Goshal
	Best Male Singer: Shaan
	Best Director: Shimit Amin
	Best Villain: Vivek Oberoi
	Best Music: A R

 

	Click here to download Full Press Release
	Click here to revisit IIFA 2007