In pictures: International Indian Film Awards 2007

Geeta Basra was one of the stars who stopped to pose on the green carpet. Organisers chose green instead of red for the carpet to highlight global warming.

Presenter Boman Irani paid tribute to the UK by wearing different British outfits through the night, including this kilt, a James Bond outfit and even a Beefeater costume.

All the winners on the night were voted for by Bollywood fans from a short list chosen by Bollywood film experts.

Shilpa Shetty won a special award for the way she handled the Celebrity Big Brother racism row...

And Bobby Deol was so proud to see his dad Dharmendra Deol (second left) win a lifetime achievement award that he burst into tears on stage!

... before taking to the stage with choreographer Shymak Davar to perform a medley of Bollywood hits.

Father and son team Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan delighted the audience with their performance.

Hrithik Roshan had a great night. He won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of a superhero in Krrish, which is Hindi for There's No one Like You, and also got the prize for most glamorous male.

She was back on stage with her husband, Abhishek Bachchan, to present the award for best film, which was won by Rang De Basanti, or Paint It Yellow.

Aishwarya Rai looked like she was walking on air after winning the most glamorous female award.

MORE HERE >>>

iifa 2007 Rocks in Yorkshire

The 8th annual Iifa awards saw brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan take a train ride with son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai to the grand IIFA 2007 event. Amitabh Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty opened the event inside Leeds Town Hall where brand ambassador Amitabh was given a special gift of a blue blazer with the words Yorkshire all over it. At the 8th annual Iifa opening Amitabh said “Iifa is really a celebration of Indian cinema beyond Indian shores and we are very happy to be here in Yorkshire.” The newly wed couple, Ash-Abhi took a train from London to the countryside for the event. Abhishek said “The train journey was good. We are looking forward to Iifa and to put up a good show.” Ash an Abhi had earlier gone to watch the French Open Tennis match as the official sponsor for the event was a watch brand that Ash endorses. The couple looked extremely happy and comfortable by each other’s side. They smiled, preened and posed for a few pictures too. Abhishek’s sister Shweta Nanda also accompanied the couple. Abhishek is all set to perform at the Iifa Awards ceremony this year; however Ash will only be cheering him on and not joining him on stage. Others who are all set to perform at the Iifa award ceremony are actors Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Govinda, Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi etc.

A number of films were promoted at the Iifa this year like Salman Khan’s Partner and his international film Marigold, Dharmendra, Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol’s film Apne amongst others. The premiere of the film ‘The Train’ in Castleford in England was well attended by celebs like Salman Khan, Upen Patel, Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra, Sayali Bhaghat etc. Actress Shilpa Shetty who has carved a special place for herself in the UK after her victory in reality show Big Brother also brought in her birthday which coincided with the event. A party was held for her by the Iifa organizers.

Amitabh Bachchan also announced his world concert with son Abhi and daughter-in-law Ash titled ‘Unforgettable’. Amitabh, Ash, Abhi, Lara Dutta and Bipasha Basu were present to announce their plans for the world concert. At the event Ash said “I am looking forward to working with my father-in-law.” All three Bachchans looked like one big happy family. The highlight of the second day at the Iifa event was a charity cricket match played between bollywood celebs and a Yorkshire cricket team at Headingley cricket grounds in Leeds. Actors who participated in the cricket match included Saif Ali Khan, Upen Patel, Govinda, Arjun Rampal, Aftab Shivdasani, Dino Morea, Apoorva Lakhia, Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin etc while the Bachchan family including Amitabh, Ash, Abhi and Shweta cheered from the stands. Actor Salman Khan too was present but seemed keen to avoid the newly wed couple Ash-Abhi and hence was spotted making rounds of the grounds. Bipasha Basu also attended the event and cheered along. The event was won by the Indian team and there was a lot of fun, joy and cheer at the event. The award ceremony was the grand finale at the Iifa event. The awards night was compared by the witty Lara Dutta and funny man Boman Irani.

The Iifa award ceremony began with a descent of bollywood stars on a green carpet to show their support for environmental issues at Sheffield Hallam FM Arena. The event was spectacular and witnessed several dance performances by bollywood celebs. Shilpa Shetty’s dance number was cheered on by the crowds as she gyrated to ‘Crazy kiya re’ and other numbers. Akshay Kumar too jigged to some Punjabi numbers. Amitabh-Abhishek also performed on-stage. Hindi film ‘Rang De Basanti’ bagged the most awards such as Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Editor etc. However Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ also bagged quite a few awards like Best Director, Best Story etc. Hrithik Roshan bagged the Best Actor Award for his superhero performance in Krrish; Rani Mukherjee won the Best Actress Award for her performance in Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna. Soha Ali Khan won Best Supporting actress for Rang De Basanti, Arshad Warsi won Best supporting actor for Lage Raho Munnabhai, Tusshar Kapoor won Best actor in a Comic role for Golmaal, Saif Ali Khan won Best Actor in a negative role for Omkara. Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai won Glamour Star of the Year awards and Deepa Mehta; NRI director won an award for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. Amitabh also presented veteran actor Dharmendra with an award for his outstanding contribution to Indian Cinema, it was an emotional moment for both Amitabh and Dharmendra who relived a few of their old memories. Yash Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan and Shabana Azmi were honoured with doctorates for their contribution to Indian Cinema. On the whole the awards night was a star studded event that saw a lot razzle and dazzle.

MORE HERE >>>

Bollywood glamour hits Yorkshire for IIFA awards

London - The biggest names in Bollywood were assembled in towns across northern Britain Friday for a celebration of Indian film that will culminate in the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards on Saturday.

Shilpa Shetty, Amitabh Bachchan, Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra and Sayali Bhagat were among the stars and starlets lending some Bollywood glamour to cities such as Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford.

Skies were grey but Shetty, affectionately adopted as an honorary Briton since her Big Brother race row earlier this year, said she was keeping her sunglasses on all the same.

'It's beautiful, isn't it,' she said about the formerly industrial region of northern Britain.

Hashmi, when asked whether he would buy a house in the county of Yorkshire, replied: 'I might.'

The four-day festival is expected to attract up to 30,000 visitors, and Saturday's award ceremony - the Indian equivalent of the Oscars - is to be broadcast to a global audience of nearly 500 million in 110 countries.

A total of 22 Bollywood productions, and three premieres, will be shown.

Bollywood entertainment in Britain has long made the progression from domestic consumption to the big screens of multiplex cinemas, reflecting the growth in the British Asian population, as well as the appeal of the movies.

Tickets for Bollywood blockbusters are now estimated to out-sell tickets for British-made films which, by comparison, are often seen as lacking the successful combination of song and dance, action, romance and comedy, the Financial Times said Friday.

Fans mainly include members of Britain's large Muslim community, which is concentrated in cities such as London, Birmingham, Bradford and Leicester.

Jyoti Deshpande of Eros International, which distributes Bollywood films across the world, said Britain is an important market that will typically take 40 to 100 prints of a strong film, which can be expected to gross up to 3 million pounds (5.9 million dollars) during its run.

'The market has broadened in recent years,' she said. 'That reflects higher production values and greater willingness of mainstream cinemas to show the films.'

Reena Combo of the British Asian leisure magazine Ikonz says that local audiences have an appetite for movies that reflect social realities.

For example, Phiri Milenge, a film starring Shilpa Shetty that tackled the tricky topic of HIV was popular in the UK, despite scandalizing some cinema goers in India.

However, the movies themselves struggle to attract significant white British audiences, despite English subtitles, experts said.

But that could change. The historical films Lagaan and Dev Das had some crossover success, while the British-made film Bride and Prejudice featured the Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai.

Deshpande said that Bollywood films have become more international in style, which means they travel better.

There had been a decline in cinematic conventions puzzling to non- Asian viewers, such as a taboo on kissing, lengthy weeping over fractured family relationships and song and dance routines in flower- strewn gardens, said Deshpande.

Acceptance, she pointed out, depended - partly - on familiarity.

MORE HERE >>>

The Train kicks off IIFA

Stars of the new thriller The Train left London on Wednesday afternoon on a specially commissioned train to Yorkshire to celebrate the film's world premiere.

The movie, which stars Emraan Hashmi, Geeta Basra and Sayali Bhagat, marks the start of the 2007 Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards which is also attracting the likes of Shilpa Shetty and Amitabh Bachchan.

The Train is being premiered at Cineworld Castleford in Bradford on Thursday night, a venue which will also be showing 22 classic Indian films leading up to the awards which are taking place on Saturday.

"It's a great platform to promote my film to an overseas audience," said the film's star Emraan Hashmi.

"These are my first overseas releases, one is Train and subsequently at the end of the month there is another film releasing, which will be premiering and releasing world wide, so it's great that it got a platform where the entire industry is coming to Yorkshire and there's going to be a huge population that's going to be see the films, so I'm very excited about it."

Hashmi plays the role of man that works at a Bangkok Ad agency. "He's a married man, he has a daughter, it's a relationship which is on the verge of a divorce and there is an extra-marital affair in the film but the entire film is a very relationship based film, it's got really intense relationships and a complete thriller which is there in the second half," said Hashmi.

The Train launches the five-day star-studded event which is expected to attract up to 28,000 visitors and will be broadcast around the world. The main awards ceremony will take place at Sheffield's Hallam FM Arena.

MORE HERE >>>

The Train Has selected for a premier at IIFA awards to be held at Yorkshire

The Train has done it what numerous other biggies couldn't do. It has been selected for a premier at IIFA awards to be held at Yorkshire.

Confirms Varun Bajaj, producer of the Emraan Hashmi-Geeta Basra-Sayali Bhagat starrer, "It is a real high for us to see the film being staged at the big arena. This only adds on to the tremendous buzz that the film has been generating ever since the promos came out first."

But wasn't Apne also being pitched for the IIFA premiere? "I heard that too but it seems that there were some technicalities due to which it is not coming in now. It has been confirmed that The Train is the only movie coming now and that too at all the four screens. The film will be screened on the night of 7th June, a day before its global release", he says with a thrilled tone.

In the bigger scheme if things, what exactly does the premiere at IIFA mean for the film? "Number of things get highlighted if your film gets such a stage for itself to be showcased", he explains, "With around 300 journalists watching the film, rest assured that the film would get an extensive coverage. Since we are so sure about the product, we are doubly confident that the film would get massive eyeballs and appreciation. The publicity this should generate is also expected to be tremendous which should get people talking about the film."

Well, people are anyways talking about the film. The buzz is that director duo of Raksha Mistry and Hasnain Hyderabadwala has a winner at hands. "The two have done a tremendous job with the film", he says fondly, "And if you ask me about the buzz, let me tell you that in industry lingo the film is HOT. The reports have been positive and we are looking for some very good audience response."

The solo release factor would anyways help, isn't it? "Of course being the only major notable movie on a particular Friday only helps, "he says, "Coming a little later than the originally planned date of May 18th has only helped us further. The publicity has been boosted while we do not have any competition on June 8th. A week before too there is just one major Hindi film Fool N Final while after us it is Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. It is good not to be in a situation when number of movies clutter a few consecutive Fridays."

While in India, the film is expected to take a good opening, what kind of overseas response is 'The Train' looking at? Says Varun, "VENUS has bought the overseas right of the film and I am sure that they would be giving the film a good release all over."

How about the UK/US market? "I haven't got into the nitty-gritty’s of which country would have how many prints but considering the fact that Venus has offices overseas as well, I don't see any reason why it shouldn't get a good release there."

What else is happening in their production house? Bajaj brothers [Narendra-Shyam] are known for bringing out number of films one after another. "The trend continues", he laughs, "Shooting for our next film Agar is already complete and we are looking at a July release. Ananth Mahadevan has come up with a fantastic film again after we made Aksar with him. Meanwhile we have also wrapped up around 40% shooting of Jai Veeru which stars Fardeen Khan and Shreyas Talpade. The film is being directed by Puneet Sira who debuted with Sohail Khan starrer I-Proud To Be Indian a few years back. We are getting good vibes about this film as well."

How about the music of these films? Traditionally films coming from Bajaj brothers have boasted of good music. "Rest assured it would be the same in case of Agar and Jai Veeru too", he says, "After The Train, composer Mithoon is working on the music of these two films as well. He is really a whiz kid and has come up with fantastic soundtrack along with Sayeed Quadri bhai," concludes Varun.

MORE HERE >>>