Magazine

IIFA Awards 2010 nominees announced

Paa, Love Aaj Kal and 3 Idiots lead the Popular category nominations tally :

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA

Amidst the everyday hustle and bustle of Colombo, a new enthusiasm and energy had been added as the city gets set to stage one of the biggest events of the year - the IIFA Awards. Brought together by the Indian Film Academy (IIFA) and Sri Lanka Tourism, the 11th celebrations of the Videocon IIFA Weekend and Micromax IIFA Awards will literarily 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, the auditing firm for the IIFAs and 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 and the winners will be announced on June 5 at the gala event at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.

The IIFA Awards is the only award ceremony where the entire film industry votes for the nominated films, which are then opened for the public for voting worldwide. Expressing his views about the nominations Wizcraft Director Sabbas Joseph stated that the second chapter of the best of what Indian cinema had to offer will be rejuvenated in Sri Lanka.

"The nominees for the Micromax IIFA Awards 2010 are a compilation of the best work from the previous year and the suspense and celebration of these worthy nominations will undoubtedly create another magical IIFA," he said. 3 Idiots bagged 14, nominations and is the movie with the highest number of nominations including best film, best actor, best director and best actress, among others.

Other films nominated are Saif Ali Khan's Love Aaj Kal that has bagged nine nominations, while IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Paa and Shahid Kapoor's Kaminey both got eight nominations each.

IIFA is dedicated to promoting Indian Cinema beyond India and placing it on an international platform by fostering exchange and interaction to enhance business opportunities.

Their vision is to recognize Indian Cinema across the Globe and to encourage co-productions with various International Film Industries in the world. Other than 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.

[ IIFA Awards trophy]

IIFA Awards Trophy is a symbol of outstanding achievement presented to some of the greatest talents in Indian and International Cinema. Standing 18 inches tall the trophy is an artistic representation of the sun, which is also an intrinsic part of the Samsung IIFA Awards logo .

The two rays represent the coming together of Indian and world Cinema. The nine rays of the sun on the trophy are symbolic of the "navrasas" - the nine emotions that form the core of performing arts in Indian culture.

Each trophy is made of pure brass plated with 24-carat gold and finally lacquered to represent the golden brilliance of the sun and also creativity.

[ Main IIFA Award Nominees]

* Best Picture: 3 Idiots, Wanted, Kaminey, Paa and Dev D

* Best Director: Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots), Anurag Kashyap (Dev D), Ayan Mukherji (Wake Up Sid), Vishal Bharadwaj (Kaminey), Imtiaz Ali (Love Aaj Kal) and R. Balki (Paa)

* Best Male Lead: Aamir Khan (3 Idiots), Amitabh Bachchan (Paa), Saif Ali Khan (Love Aaj Kal), Salman Khan (Wanted), Shahid Kapoor (Kaminey) and Ranbir Kapoor (Wake Up Sid)

* Best female Lead: Kareena Kapoor (3 Idiots), Priyanka Chopra (Kaminey), Deepika Padukone (Love Aaj Kal), Vidya Balan (Paa) and Mahie Gill (Dev D)