Stage being set for awards night

Viraf Sarkari, director of Wizcraft, wishes he had more space at the Dubai Airport Expo for the "mind-blowing experience" he is planning for the IIFA Idea Awards show on Friday.

There will be about 700 top Bollywood names in the nominee enclosure alone, and he is planning the show for an audience of 8,000.
At the IIFA awards show at the Netherlands, he had taken over the Amsterdam Arena, which seats about 85,000. But there he could use only 30 per cent of the space.

Sound effect

The Airport Expo looks tiny in comparison when he talks about such big numbers. Asked how he will tackle the echo effect, he said some of the best sound engineers are at work on the show.

His 500-strong crew from Britain and Dubai are setting up the stage for the show that will have an Arabian Nights theme, naturally. The opening will be a folk number from Dubai.
 
Confident

The scene was like a movie set when I visited the venue on Sunday.

Computerised lights were being installed on long trusses and carpenters and masons were busy at work hammering and nailing things together.

Sarkari started on his job last Friday.

"It is an eight-day production set," he says.
 
Asked if the stars had asked for anything special, he says with confidence that they have left the show arrangements to him.

He is the one who has directed the Delhi Segment of the Commonwealth games in Melbourne.

"We have done some of the biggest events," he says, reeling off a list that includes the Afro-Asian Games.

The show itself

The show will be a mix of hi-tech and raw entertainment, with a line up of stars that is sure to make the die-hard fan very happy.
 
Some of the big names who will strut their stuff include Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Preity Zinta and Rani Mukherjee.

Himesh Reshammiya, the singer-music director some love to hate, will also get on the stage.

Plus a special segment will introduce the new faces in Bollywood.  

The stars will walk the Red Carpet and enter the venue from the East Hall.

Told that Dubai traffic could be a wet blanket for the show and make things start later, Viraf Sarkari, director, Wizcraft, said he is working closely with the Dubai Police and hopes to start the show at 7.30pm.

Tickets for the show are on sale. They are priced Dh550 and Dh1,200. Call 04-3580890; 050-5036643 or 04-3526114