It's that time of the year again, when the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) selects some commendable Bollywood movies and invites movie buffs to vote for their favourites. Pegged as the Indian Oscars, this is a celebration of Indian cinema on international shores. And keeping with the tradition of hosting the awards ceremony outside India, this year the IIFA honours will be handed out in Sri Lanka.
Unlike most film awards where a jury picks the winners, at IIFA that tradition is turned around, with the audience playing judge. Its official portal - www.iifa.com - will be the voting platform until June 1. The results will then be announced at the 11th IIFA ceremony in Colombo on June 5.
Amitabh Bachchan's emotional drama Paa, Shahid Kapoor's pulp fiction Kaminey and Aamir Khan's poignant 3 Idiots lead the nominations in the popular categories - Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress. Salman Khan's action thriller Wanted and Abhay Deol's tragic love story Dev D find a prominent place in the nominations. But King Khan (aka Shah Rukh Khan's) My Name is Khan missed the bus this year, making it a likely contender for the next IIFA. This leaves Aamir Khan to hog all the spotlight with 3 Idiots. Saif Ali Khan's romantic flick Love Aaj Kal also gets recognition.
The nominees were selected after the film industry voted in March. Following the Oscar tradition, the results were then audited by PriceWaterhouse Coopers. IIFA makes up for being the last award on the B-town circuit by packing in a whole weekend of film festivals, workshops, exhibitions, film showcases, global business forums and sporting events. Conceptualised and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and supported by key members in Bollywood, IIFA is a prominent South Asian film entity.
London, Sun City (Johannesburg), Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, Amsterdam, Yorkshire, Bangkok and Macau have hosted the ceremony in the last decade.
Nominations for IIFA 2010
Best Film
Vidu Vinod Chopra.............3 Idiots
Boney Kapoor....................Wanted
Anurag Kashyap and Ronnie Screwvala................Dev D
Vishal Bharadwaj and Ronnie Screwvala...........Kaminey
Sunil Manchanda and AB Corp..................................Paa
Best Director
Rajkumar Hirani...............3 Idiots
Anurag Kashyap..................Dev D
Ayan Mukerji.............Wake Up Sid
Vishal Bharadwaj............Kaminey
Imtiaz Ali...................Love Aaj Kal
R. Balki...................................Paa
Leading Role: Male
Aamir Khan.......................3 Idiots
Amitabh Bachchan.................Paa
Saif Ali Khan.............Love Aaj Kal
Salman Khan....................Wanted
Shahid Kapoor................Kaminey
Ranbir Kapoor...........Wake Up Sid
Leading Role: Female
Kareena Kapoor................3 Idiots Priyanka Chopra.............Kaminey
Deepika Padukone....Love Aaj Kal
Vidya Balan.............................Paa
Mahie Gill............................Dev D
