   IIFA FEVER
by Ruwini Jayawardana
Colombo is in a frenzy getting
ready to stage one of the biggest events in its entertainment calendar -
the IIFA Awards. Put together by the Indian Film Academy (IIFA) and Sri
Lanka Tourism, the 11th celebration of the Videocon IIFA Weekend and
Micromax IIFA Awards will take over Colombo from June 3 to 5.
Some of those nominated for the main awards were announced recently.
They have been audited by PriceWaterhouse Coopers who even audit for the
Oscars. Online voting took off on May 10 on www.iifa.com. Bollywood
movie buffs will get a chance to vote for their favourite actors and
movies online. Their votes will be graded to select the winners for the
most popular category.
The voting will conclude on June 1 while the winners will be
announced on June 5 at the gala event at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.
The nominees for Best Lead Actor went to Aamir Khan for ‘3 Idiots’,
Amitabh Bachchan for ‘Paa’, Saif Ali Khan for ‘Love Aaj Kal’, Salman
Khan for ‘Wanted’, Shahid Kapoor for ‘Kaminey’ and Randir Kapoor for
‘Wake Up Sid’.
Kareena Kapoor has been nominated for the award for Best Lead Actress
for ‘3 Idiots’, Priyanka Chopra for ‘Kaminey’, Deepika Padukone for
‘Love Aaj Kal’, Vidya Balan for ‘Paa’ and Mahie Gill for ‘Dev D’.
Top grosser of the year ‘3 Idiots’ is among the favourites to clinch
the title for Best Film closely followed by ‘Wanted’, ‘Kaminey’, ‘Paa’
and ‘Dev D’. The nominees for Best Director are Rajkumar Hirani for ‘3
Idiots’, Anurag Kashyap for ‘Dev D’, Ayan Mukherji for ‘Wake Up Sid’,
Vishal Bharadwaj for ‘Kaminey’, Imtiaz Ali for ‘Love Aaj Kal’ and R.
Balki for ‘Paa’.
Other then showcasing what Bollywood has to offer to the world the
event also aims at promoting Sri Lanka as a tourist and film location.
Over 500 celebrities from Indian cinema as well as some business
personalities and leading figures in the country will fly to the island
to take part in the glamorous event.
The IIFA Awards will be broadcast globally by STAR TV to reach nearly
500 million viewers in 110 countries.
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