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Banking on Bangkok
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IDEA IIFA Awards for 2008 are announced, albeit in a lack-lustre event
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Photo: S. SUBRAMANIUM
Like us Amitabh Bachchan shows how Thai people greet everyone with a namaste
“It sounds repetitive but I would begin by talking about my eight-year-long association with IIFA. Eight years ago, three gentlemen from Idea Cellular came to me and asked, ‘What if we take the Indian cine awards beyond Indian shores?’ I liked it and agreed to become its brand ambassador. We started off modestly in London. It grew in stature each year. And wherever we did this award ceremony, it truly resulted in building bridges between India and those nations. This time we have chosen Siam Niramit at Bangkok as the venue. I visited it a few years ago during a film shooting. I found it spectacularly beautiful. Its north side is full of scenic beauty. Its people are extremely warm. Their mode of greeting is the same as our namaste. One feels at home there.” This was Amitabh Bachchan, speaking on the occasion of the announcements of the eighth IDEA IIFA nominations in New Delhi recently.
Delayed start
This event scheduled to start at 6.45 in the evening started at 8 p.m. In previous years the event used to be organised in one of Delhi’s centrally located premium hotels. This time one had to wade through nerve-wracking traffic to reach PVR Cineplex in South Delhi’s Select City Walk mall. To top that, journalists were huddled with other invitees in the rear seats as the first few seats, they were informed, were reserved for sponsors. Even the nominations were read out hastily by anchor Geetika Ganju.
“There are five nominations in 13 categories. And if there is a tie, we will have six nominations. The nominations of the films have been done by producers, for which they had to fill a form. We wanted Taare Zameen Par also to be in the fray but Aamir Khan didn’t fill the form,” shared Sabbas Joseph, the director of Wizcraft Entertainment which has conceptualised the awards. The members of the IIFA selection committee chaired by Bachchan, include Jaya Bachchan, Karan Johar, Shyam Shroff, Vinod Khanna, G.P. Sippy, Manmohan Shetty, J.P. Dutta and others.
From this year, IIFA has also stepped into merchandising with the house of BIBA. It launched its label Bling, through which it showcased garments designed by Renu Chopra, Bina Kapur and Vikram Phadnis. Phadnis would design clothes based on Bachchan’s forthcoming film Bhoothnath for the grand event. Kapur and Chopra plan to “bring Bollywood dresses to the masses” by taking the copyright from various film costume designers. The website iifabuzz.com has been launched to enable people to vote online for popular films. The voting will continue till May-end. This year FICCI has also joined hands with IIFA. It is targeting a business of Rs.10 million within a few years by initiating “free trade movement between Indiana and Thailand”, said Amit Mitra of FICCI.
THE NOMINATIONS
Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan (Chak De! India) Abhishek Bachchan (Guru), Akshay Kumar (Bhul Bhulaiyya), Salman Khan (Partner), Shahid Kapoor (Jab We Met) and Kay Kay Menon (Metro), Amitabh Bachchan (Chini Kum).
Best Female Actor: Aishwarya Rai (Guru) Deepika Padukone (Om Shanti Om), Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met), Vidya Balan (BB) Tabu (Chini Kum)
Best Director: Mani Ratnam (Guru), Shimit Amin (Chak D
e), Priyadarshan (BB), David Dhawan (Partner), Imtiaz Ali (JWM), Anurag Basu (Metro)
Best Supporting Actor (Male): Anil Kapoor (Welcome) Govinda (Partner), Irrfan Khan (Metro), Mithun Chakraborty (Guru), Rajat Kapoor (Bheja Fry)
Best Supporting Actor (Female): Chitrashi Rawat (Chak De), Konkona Sen Sharma (Metro) Rani Mukerji (Saawariya), Vidya Balan (Guru), Zohra Sehgal (Cheeni Kum)
Comedy (Male): Govinda, (Partner) Irrfan Khan (Metro), Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav (BB), Vinay Pathak (Bheja Fry)
Best Music Direction: A.R. Rahman (Guru), Mika (Shootout…), Monty Sharma (Saawariya) Pritam ((BB), Sajid-Wajid (Partner), Salim-Sulaiman, (Chak De)
Best Lyrics: Gulzar, Jaideep Sahni, Javed Akhtar, Sameer, Sayeed Quadri
Playback Singer (Male): KK, Neeraj Shridhar (BB), Shaan, Sukhvinder Singh, Wajid
RANA SIDDIQUI
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