The IIFA awards come to a close

COLOMBO: This year’s three-day Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) was dominated by Aamir Khan’s 3 Idiots but will be most remembered for the absence of Bollywood mega stars led by IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan who had earlier announced that he would attend the awards.

Reportedly the reason behind this absence was the South Indian film distributors threatening to boycott the actors who attended the event.

The threats by the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce meant the glamour quotient on the final night was much lower than in the past with Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Bipasha Basu representing Bollywood.

Nevertheless, the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was ecstatic about hosting the awards ceremony in his country.

“Thank you IIFA for choosing my country as the venue for this extravagant event. It will help us in bridging the gap between the two nations in a simple manner,” Rajapaksa said.

Day one

The fashion extravaganza saw the participation of many Bollywood actors and Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara, who walked the ramp for leading Indian and Sri Lankan designers. They were backed by a live musical performance by composers Salim-Suleiman and singers Kailash Kher and Anushka Manchanda.

Day two

A charity cricket match was organised between the Sangakkara XI, boasting some of the Sri Lankan greats and two teams comprising Bollywood stars led respectively by Suniel Shetty and Hrithik Roshan. The former naturally knocked out the Bollywood heroes.

The sixth edition of the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum was held which focused on various strategies to explore and boost business opportunities between India and Sri Lanka.

This year’s theme was ‘India - Sri Lanka Partnership: The Way forward’, with key speakers being President Rajapaksa and former Indian junior foreign minister Shashi Tharoor.

Day three

The three-day event came to a close with a glamorous grand finale, the climax being Hrithik Roshan’s performance where he wowed the audience with his dancing and singing.

Credit must be given to Lara Dutta along with Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh who were hosting.

HIGHLIGHTS
J Om Prakash receives a special award

J Om Prakash, who has made films like Aap Ki Kasam (1974), Aasha (1980) and Aas Paas (1981), was honoured for his outstanding contribution to cinema and the award was presented to him by grandson Hrithik Roshan.

“I am fully content with what I have achieved and I feel that I have accomplished everything now. My life is complete. But the biggest achievement for me today is that I am recognised as Duggu’s (Hrithik’s nickname) grandfather,” Om Prakash said at the award ceremony.

Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor danced to Boman’s tune

Versatile actor Boman Irani showed a different side of his personality as he played the guitar and sang a song at the IIFAs. And two people who enjoyed his performance to the hilt were actors Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor who supported him by performing dance moves from where they were standing and tried to motivate the audience to join them.

Govinda and Salman’s partnership continues

Salman Khan and Govinda, who made a fantastic pair in the film Partner, were back as partners at the IIFA awards with Anil Kapoor joining in the fun. Khan began his performance with the song “Love Me, Love Me” from Wanted and was soon joined by Govinda. The actors enthralled the audience with their antics and were joined by Kapoor who walked onto stage with the song “No Entry”.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2010.