Actors to fly off to Tampa Bay, Florida for the 15th IIFA awards weekend. PHOTO: FILE
Based on the life of former athlete Milkha Singh, the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, starring the talented Farhan Akhtar, has bagged the highest number of nominations (a whopping 10!) for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, scheduled to be held later this year in Tampa Bay, Florida.
The nominations for the 15th edition of the extravaganza, touted to be Indian cinema's most spectacular awards ceremony outside the country, were announced Thursday.
Competing in close quarters with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag are Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela and the heart-wrenching Aashiqui 2, with seven nominations each. The Ranbir Kapoor starring Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani scored six nominations as well.
Other high-profile films of 2013, Krrish 3, Chennai Express, Kai Po Che and The Lunchbox, have also received nominations in a number of categories for the awards.
According to IANS, in the Leading Role (Male) category, the nominees are Shah Rukh Khan for Chennai Express, Hrithik Roshan for Krrish 3, Ranbir Kapoor for Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Farhan Akhtar for Bhaag Milka Bhaag, Ranveer Singh for Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela and newcomer Sushant Singh Rajput for Kai Po Che.
Deepika Padukone steals the thunder in the Leading Role (Female) category with three nominations for her role in Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Chennai Express and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Other contenders for the category are Sonakshi Sinha for Lootera, Nimrat Kaur for The Lunchbox and Shraddha Kapoor for Aashiqui 2.
The Best Director nominees include filmmakers Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rakesh Roshan, Rohit Shetty, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra and Abhishek Kapoor.
The Best Film category nominees are 2013's runway successes Dhoom 3, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, Krrish 3, Kai Po Che, Chennai Express and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
The Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend, presented by Tata Motors, will be held at the Tampa Bay Raymond James Stadium from April 23 to April 26.
According to IBTimes, the four-day awards ceremony will include a variety of events: IIFA Rocks on April 24, IIFA Magic of the Movies and Technical Awards on April 25 and IIFA Awards April 26.
Several stars will be performing throughout the weekend, including Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha and Bipasha Basu, among others. The main awards ceremony itself will be hosted by Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor.
A press conference announcing the 15th IIFA Awards was held in Mumbai and was attended by Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena, Bipasha and music director Pritam.
Last year, the event was held in Macau and included memorable performances by Sreedevi, Madhuri, Deepika Padukone, Parineeti Chopra, Ayushmann Khurrana, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sophie Choudhry and Dia Mirza, among others. Ranbir Kapoor's Barfi! took home top honours at the 14th IIFA awards ceremony last year. It remains to be seen if Bhaag Milkha Bhaag can turn its nominations into wins and be the big winner this year.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2014.
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