Anil Shines At IIFA 2009

This year 10th IIFA Awards saw few biggies with the controversies all over about the Bachchan’s, Kareena not performing, Pryianka-Shahid too opting out. In between this entire event 1, 2 ka 4 artist, Anil Kapoor grabbed the limelight.

Anil Kapoor was one of the stars who had all the media behind him. In the press conference he talked about his new show “24” and about her daughter Sonam Kapoor.

Alongside, he was given the best treatment when it comes to hospitality. “He was given one of the best and luxurious Presidential Suite for his three days stay at Macau. He interacted with his fans very nicely and seemed to be enjoying the treatment he got at the award function, adds the source.

Well it seems, Anil Kapoor benefited from the Khans & Kumars absence from the IIFA.

The Winners for the IDEA IIFA Awards 2009

The tenth year of IIFA surpassed all expectations with a spectacular show that saw epic movie Jodhaa Akbar bag most of the top Awards. The film won the coveted Best Picture Award, while Ashutosh Gowarikar won the award for Best Director and Hrithik Roshan for Best Actor for Jodhaa Akbar.

Priyanka Chopra won the Award for Best Actress for her much acclaimed role in Fashion, while her co-star Kangana Ranawat won the Award for her performance as supporting female actor. Arjun Rampal came out victorious for Best Male performance in a supporting role for Rock On. The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented by IIFA Brand Ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan to Rajesh Khanna, who received a standing ovation from the packed arena.

Abhishek Bachchan won the Award for best performance in a comic role for his hilarious character in Dostana, while Akshaye Khanna won for Best performance in a negative role for Race. Neeraj Pandey’s powerful film, A Wednesday won the Award for Best Story.

The Male Star of the Decade went to Shah Rukh Khan, while Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won in the female category. Movie of the decade went to Lagaan, with Rakesh Roshan winning Director of the decade and the talented AR Rahman won the award for Music of the decade. The star debut of the year was awarded to Asin and Farhan Akhtar.

Other than this AR Rahman won the Best Background Score Award for the flick Jodhaa Akbar. Mano Rishil won the Best Dialogue award for Oye Lucky, Ballu Saluja got the award for Best Editing for the film Jodhaa Akbar. Best Art Direction award was given to Nitin Chandrakant Desai again for Jodhaa Akbar. Best Costume Award was given to Neeta Lulla for Jodhaa Akbar, Madhav Kadam got the award for Best Make-Up for the film Jodhaa Akbar. Best Picture award was given to Jodhaa Akbar. Neerai Pandey won the Best Screenplay award for A Wednesday Short and Sweet. Best Playback Singer (female) award was given to Shreya Ghoshal for Teri Ore for the movie Singh Is King and Best Playback Singer (Male) award was given to Javed Ali was the song Jashan-e-Baharaa from the film Jodhaa Akbar.

The list is quiet long guys. IIFA Awards was the biggest celebration of Indian Cinema !!

The Grand IIFA 2009 in Macau

In an attempt to take Bollywood in the booming Chinese market and the rest of eastern Asia, an annual road show to China's coastal casino enclave of Macau is being taken up. Bollywood's first family,the Bachchan clan, led by millenium star Amitabh Bachchan, his son Abhishek, and daughter-in-law, former Miss World Aishwarya Rai, will walk the red carpet as the International Indian Film Academy hosts its 10th annual weekend conference from Thursday to Saturday.

The world's most prolific film industry is hoping to translate its large output into bigger revenue by widening its viewership beyond native Indians.

Overseas income is already contributing more to the $2.3 billion Indian movie industry, with foreign box office revenues jumping from 5.3 percent of total revenue in 2005 to 9.8 percent in 2008, according to a report commissioned by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. With their large ethnic Indian populations, the U.S. and Britain are now Bollywood's two biggest foreign markets.

"The success and popularity of 'Slumdog Millionaire,' with its Indian locales, artists and music, underscores the growing influence of Indian cinema and augurs well for Bollywood movie markets targeting global audiences," the FICCI report said.

Amitabh Bachchan told a recent media briefing promoting the International Indian Film Academy weekend that the Indian film industry needs to do a better job of selling itself. Indian films typically devote 10 percent to 15 percent of their budget to marketing, compared to 30 percent in Hollywood, according to the FICCI report.

"Hollywood has greater marketing skills. We don't know how to market our product because we don't have the funds," the 66-year-old actor said, adding that, "we are trying."

The film academy has held previous overseas events in London, Dubai, Johannesburg, Amsterdam and Bangkok.

In addition to showcasing several new Indian films, this year's event in Macau will include a conference of business executives from India and China on Friday that will focus on collaboration between the two countries, with Indian Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao making the
pitch for her home country.

Famed Bollywood composer A.R. Rahman, an Oscar winner for his "Slumdog Millionaire" score, will hold a workshop on Friday. Heartthrob Hrithik Roshan and wife Suzanne will model for Indian designers at a fashion show Thursday night.

The three-day program culminates Saturday night, 13 June, with the annual IIFA Awards, where Abhishek Bachchan, his wife Aishwarya Rai, Roshan and fellow stars Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif will compete for top acting honors.

IIFA is All Set For The Next Weekend

IIFA all set to celebrate its 10th year in 2009 where and when the biggest and the best from Bollywood will cross the borders to perform, give away and receive awards.
Venue for IIFA Awards 2009

Macau, China is the venue for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards to be held in the June 11-13 weekend. Despite coming late in the year after Filmfare and Stardust awards,
IIFA is looking forward to mainly because it is just the votes that matter here.

IIFA Founders

Founded by Wizcraft International Entertainment, IIFA neatly sidesteps potential accusations of foul play and partiality thanks to a transparent tie-up with the audit firm Price Waterhouse Coopers.
IIFA Technical Awards Are Done With!

IIFA's technical awards are over and done with and we will have to wait to see that if Hrithik Roshan will score another award for his performance in Jodhaa Akbar as Shah Rukh Khan has always been the king of the popularity stakes. While Abhishek Bachchan has been nominated in three categories, two for the same role in Dostana, his better half, Aishwarya Rai, probably has her fingers crossed for a win over Priyanka Chopra this time. But one guess is only as good as the other.

The process of selecting the winners is not as transparent in a ceremony like, say the Filmfare Awards, as it is in the case of IIFA. So IIFA has certainly taken over other conventional awards now.

IIFA Showmanship

Where showmanship is concerned, IIFA certainly knows how to deliver the best. An international face like Rai's, musical genius like that of A.R. Rahman's and the dogged refusal to give up on songs-for-every-occasion have taken Bollywood to almost every part of
the globe; Wizcraft has systematically created an organised platform for Hindi movies to be lauded globally.

Guest Abode at IIFA

To accomodate its approx. 500 luminaries from tinsel-town, IIFA is befittingly headed to the Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel. This will even boost the tourism in the place. Designed like the city of Venice, the hotel has only suites to offer and a stream of gondolas to saunter
past as you shop. You can even float along in a gondola as your guide sings for you, but at a price. The Cotai Arena, which is the venue for the event, can house up to 6,000 guests.


IIFA Brand Ambassador

For brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the year should hold a special place in his heart as it is his 40th year in the industry as well. But he still has to defend IIFA's position when it comes to accusations that it showcases only Hindi films and does not go pan-Indian.

It is certainly Bollywood that is putting the country's glamorous face forward with its penchant for the glitter and gloss.

Action broadcaster AXN announced the nominees for the AXN Action Awards

The action broadcaster AXN announced the nominees for the AXN Action Awards and the Best Actor category features Akshay Kumar, Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan. In the Best Actor in a Negative Role, Imran Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Kay Kay Menon battle it out for the top spot.

Nominated in the Best Director category are Murgadoss for Ghajini, Ashutosh Gowariker for Jodha Akbar and Abbas Mustan for Race. These three movies are up against each other in the Best Action Film category.

Akshay Kumar who has been nominated for Tashan said, “I am really proud to be nominated for the Best Action Actor for my role in Tashan. I have always been passionate about action as a genre and am happy that AXN Action Awards honour excellence in the field. The action in Tashan has a very edgy and stylish feel to it."

Hrithik Roshan said, “There was a phenomenal amount of training involved in making Jodha Akbar a success. It is great to see the hard work pay off with my nomination at the AXN Action Awards. The magnitude of the battles and the action scenes gave the movie a legendary and historic feel. While the action was not the conventional kind, it is good to see the majestic and noble nature of the action sequences appreciated by AXN.”

Aamir Khan said, “Ghajini is a film that required a lot of aggression that exposes the basic crude emotion of human loss. I am honoured to be nominated by AXN in the ‘Best Action Actor’ category, as the action in Ghajini is more complex and thought provoking, showcasing anger and physical violence. I am pleased that the AXN Action Awards recognises the multifaceted action displayed in Ghajini.”

Amitabh discloses nominations for IIFA awards

The countdown for the much awaited, fun-filled and exciting tenth IIFA Weekend at The Venetian Macau has begun.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan revealed the names of films nominated in the Best Film category for IIFA awards 2009 while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.

Amitabh Bachchan was here to promote International Indian Film Awards which will be organized at the Venetian, Macau (China).

Big B told that amongst the films released in the year 2008, ‘A Wednesday', ‘Dostana', ‘Ghajini', 'Race', ‘Jodha Akbar' and ‘Rock On' have been nominated for the Best Film award.
Amitabh Bachchan, the brand ambassador of IIFA confirmed that his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan will perform at the event. Sonam Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Riteish Deshmukh, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen, Bipasha Basu and Boman Irani will be the other star attractions performing in the event.
Amitabh Bachchan said, ‘My conscience does not permit me to accept the award under the present circumstances when the citizens ofour country are subjected to such acts of inhuman horror.' With categories like the Star of the Decade – Male and Female, Movie of the Decade, Music of the Decade and Director of the Decade, the IDEA IIFA Awards will honour the best of Indian cinema.

Also setting the stage alight once more, will be the dynamic Abhishek Bachchan who has performed twice before on the IIFA stage. Bachchan planted a tree after the press conference at a mall here. It is worth mentioning here that IIFA weekend will take place on June 11-13 this year.

IIFA Brand Ambassador "Lavish Suite" in Macau

Amitabh Bachchan via last.fm

• IIFA Brand Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan is residing in an extra Lavish

Suit in Macau, China, the venue of 2009 IIFA.

The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards had well
deservedly allotted the best suite in the hotel that hosts the
celebrity guests of the event. It is now learnt that this year it is
to be no exception either.

The IIFA Awards this year are being hosted by The Venetian, Macau and
just like its sister property The Venetian in Las Vegas, The Venetian
Macao is also a Renaissance Venice-themed property featuring famous
landmarks from Venice with over 3000 suites. The best of them all has
been specially kept reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Amitabh Bachchan.

It is on the seventh floor having its own private swimming pool, patio
and lawn. Reportedly the suite contains three master bedrooms with
each bedroom having its own steam, sauna, exercise and massage room.
Interestingly, the bathroom is entirely operated by gadgets. There is
a switch that ensures that the collapsible pot is opened. Then the
second switch washes you after your use while the third one dries you
up. And funnily, the last switch powders your backside.

When Big B made his visit to Macao earlier this month for a
promotional activity, he stayed at that very same suite. He was
mightily impressed by the luxurious facilities it offered him but at
the same time he was overheard saying that, “It needs a golf buggy to
take me from the bedroom to the bathroom. It is really far.”