In just a month, April 23rd to the 26th, The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) will hit the United States for the first time and Bollywood will descend on Tampa Bay, Florida. We have been giving you updates as we get them but we thought we would give you a roundup on what’s happening, who will be there and who is nominated for the prestigious awards.
For the last fourteen years, The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has brought the magic of Bollywood to cities all over the world. Conceptualized and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and supported by the key members of the Indian film fraternity, IIFA is a global platform that gives Hindi films and it’s stars an opportunity to reach audiences internationally and to expand Bollywood worldwide.
In our exclusive interview Andre Timmins, Director of Wizcraft International & IIFA, had this to say, “Wherever IIFA has travelled IIFA makes a big impact from a cinema base and a base of networking. We want to further increase the penetration of Indian cinema all over the world. That’s exactly what we want to do and achieve.”
Of course to make IIFA shine, Bollywood Heroes and Heroines have to be there and this year in Tampa there is a bumper crop of the best of Bollywood. So far the list includes Deepika Padukone, Shah Rukh Khan, Farhan Akhtar, Shahid Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Madhuri Dixit-Nene, Hrithik Roshan, Shruti Hassan, Sonakshi Sinha, Anil Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Sri Devi and Boney Kapoor, Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Shekhar Kapur, Pritam, Anupam Kher, Vidya Balan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Genelia D’Souza, Boman Irani, Fardeen Khan and more (if you can believe it!).
The 15th edition of the Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend in April 2014 will have multiple star filled events encompassing everything filmi including music, fashion, business, masterclasses and of course the Tata Motors IIFA Awards.
The bollyfabulouslessness begins with the cool IIFA Stomp, a unique celebration of Indian music, dance and cuisine to welcome IIFA to Tampa. Timmins told us, “The IIFA Stomp is something more like a kick-off welcome party, which is free to the public. We are bringing in DJs from India to play Bollywood music, there will be a mela (fair), and there will be a lot of food stalls. So it is going to be very, very simple but it is going to have a lot of Indian music where people are going to come to party and dance, eat, drink and kind of embrace IIFA for the next 3 days. The city won’t sleep!”
Another highlight is the IIFA Masterclass, which will feature Hollywood star Kevin Spacey along with Vidya Balan. Timmins said, “IIFA has always been viewed as a platform to bridge the gap between the Indian film industry and the international audience. It has been our dream to be able to do this with the participation of Hollywood artists being featured within our events and this year as we debut in America we are proud to have achieved this with a Master Class Panel that features Vidya Balan. This panel will be an enthralling event that will create a great platform for knowledge exchange in the world of film and media.”
It being Bollywood, music will also take center stage at this year’s IIFA at two special events. IIFA Rocks, a night of music and fashion will bring the sounds of one of Bollywood’s best and most popular composer’s Pritam, who will be collaborating with the Tampa Bay Symphony and will showcase the costumes of Bollywood.
Hosted by Saif Ali Khan and actor-comedian Vir Das, the IIFA Magic of the Movies and Technical Awards will be a night of music, dance and awards, with performances from Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Farhan Akhtar, and Bipasha Basu. The spectacular event will highlight the music of world-renowned musician, Ustaad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. Earlier the technical awards winners were announced: http://bollyspice.com/76364/iifa-2014-technical-award-winners-announced-bhaag-milkha-bhaag-bags-9
Business events include the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum which focuses on business opportunities across the two geographies, the Global Leadership Honours and a Media and Entertainment Strategy Summit led by Ernst & Young and FICCI’s Entertainment division. The FICCI IIFA Global Business Forum will take place over two days (24th & 25th April) at the Tampa Convention Center. Hosted by the University of South Florida College of Business, the business forum will be addressed by several leading visionaries and business leaders including Indian IT visionary, founder and Executive Chairman of Infosys, Mr. Narayan Murthy and FICCI President Siddharth Birla. The business forum’s verticals will focus on renewable energy, pharma, healthcare & life sciences, tourism, IT and cyber security, infrastructure, education and higher education. For the first time this year, the IIFA EXPO comprising a B2C showcase of businesses from India and US would be on view. The focus areas are property, wellness and tranquility, jewelry, banking, tourism, bridal wear, clothing, handicrafts and artifacts.
Of course the crowning glory, if that was not enough excitement, is the Bollywood Oscars aka the IIFA Awards. Starting with the stars walking down the Green carpet to the screams of thousands fans, the award show, which Timmins says will be “magical”, will be hosted by Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor. The extravaganza will not only announce “And the winner is…”, but also boasts amazing performances by Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Bipasha Basu, choreographed by the internationally-renowned Shiamak Davar.
Talking about the his work with IIFA Shiamak said, “Every year with IIFA, has just been magical. This has been one of the oldest and finest associations for more than a decade now. IIFA is a great platform not only to showcase Bollywood to the world but also celebrate Indian Culture internationally.”
About the incredible production numbers he puts together to make the show magical the choreographer said, “The stage really is a canvas. Each star I work with, I paint it with an imagery that best brings out their personality and their body of work” Adding, “Also, my style is a mix of the east and the west, so each time I take up a challenge of presenting India and Bollywood that the audience of that country will be able to relate to”
Nominated by the film fraternity, the winners for each of the categories are decided by global voting (you can still vote at http://www.runtime-solutions.com/iifa_global_voting_2014/).
In the major categories the nominees are…
Shah Rukh Khan (Chennai Express), Hrithik Roshan (Krrish 3), Ranbir Kapoor (Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani), Farhan Akhtar (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag), Ranveer Singh (Goliyon Ki Rasleela-Ramleela) and newcomer Sushant Singh Rajput (Kai Po Che) are all up for the Performance in a Leading Role (Male) prize.
For the Performance in a Leading Role (Female) category Deepika Padukone has an incredible three nominations for Chennai Express, Goliyon Ki Rasleela-Ramleela and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Also making it on the list are Sonakshi Sinha (Lootera), Nimrat Kaur (The Lunchbox) and Shraddha Kapoor (Aashiqui 2).
Coming to Best Director the nominees include a host of celebrated filmmakers like Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Goliyon Ki Rasleela-Ram-leela), Rakesh Roshan (Krrish 3), Rohit Shetty (Chennai Express), Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) and Abhishek Kapoor (Kai Po Che).
One of the most awaited awards, the Best Film category includes an eclectic but fabulous list of films that includes Dhoom 3, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, Goliyon Ki Rasleela-Ram-leela, Krrish 3, Kai Po Che, Chennai Express and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.
Long time friend and supporter of IIFA, International Actor, Anil Kapoor said, “There is nothing as unique as Bollywood, and Tampa is in for a treat this year! The IIFAs are a great platform for us to showcase our work to the world. This April, IIFA will bring the magic of Indian Cinema to America.”
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said, “IIFA is gonna rock the US.”
“This year’s IIFA is going to be the biggest yet. America is in for a journey like no other.” – Dr. Kiran Patel, Supporter of IIFA
There are also several contests being held not only to attend the show, http://www.lavamobiles.com/huntforthesmartist.aspx but to dance with Shaimak http://www.shiamak.com/competition/ and an IIFA Stomp contest http://tampabay.upickem.net/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=121409. We hear more are coming up, keep checking http://www.iifa.com/contests/!
We also hear that Farhan Akthar will have the honor of throwing the first pitch at a home game for the baseball team the Tampa Bay Rays.
Tickets for both the IIFA Magic of the Movies and Technical Awards and the IIFA Award ceremony are available at http://www.ticketmaster.com!
Tampa is also getting its Bollybillboard on check these out!
So that’s the deets we have so far! Stay tuned we will keep you in the IIFA know! Please check out iifa.com for more information including the updated itinerary (http://www.iifa.com/iifa-2014-itinerary/)! See you in Tampa!
