IIFA turns 10!

One of Hindi film industry’s most loved awards shows is the International Indian Film Academy. Fronted by brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan and event management company Wizcraft, IIFA offers a fun-filled weekend at exotic places the world over.

A World premiere of a big blockbuster, music launches, the ‘green’ carpet and a business forum discussing the film industry’s business opportunities are some events that bring out Hindi cinema’s crème de la crème every year.

This year, IIFA turns 10 and there are big celebrations being planned. The venue city is yet to be announced, but the buzz is around Istanbul, Morocco, Scotland or Hong Kong. While we wait for the venue to be announced, we take a look at IIFA over the years.

Year 2000
Venue: London, United Kingdom
Highlights: The first year of the IIFAs. Tinseltown had not seen anything like this before. The entire industry turned up in full force. The Bachchans, Shah Rukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt, then Miss Universe Yukta Mookhey, Akshay Kumar, David Dhawan, Karan Johar – everyone, really.

The big moment of the first ever IIFA was the presence of international pop star Kylie Minogue, Hollywood star Jackie Chan and Shekhar Kapur. While Kylie left our stars enthralled with her act, Shekhar was his usual charming self while accepting his award for Contribution to World Cinema.

Year 2001
Venue: Sun City, South Africa
Highlights: Sun City worked its charm for Hrithik Roshan’s debut film, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai (directed by Rakesh Roshan). The film took home awards for Best Direction, Best Film, Best Actor and Music.

A lot of local talent was showcased and the acrobats left the audience spellbound with their act.

Year 2002
Venue: Malaysia
Highlights: Despite ill health, Shammi Kapoor made it to the IIFAs in Malaysia – he was honoured for his contribution to Indian cinema.

Another big moment was a performance by Karisma Kapoor which then went on to become her last big performance. After this, she pretty much moved out of Hindi films.

Year 2003
Venue: Johannesburg, South Africa
Highlights: Relatively new in 2003, IIFA hadn’t yet reached the grand scale of today. That didn’t stop the main awards’ night from being spectacular.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas swept awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor. The evening also belonged to Akshay Kumar who, believe it or not, performed with wings on!

In 2003, IIFA helped increase foreign earnings for the industry. During the IIFA weekend in South Africa, a tie-up was entered into with Ster Kinekor and Nu Metro to distribute and exhibit Hindi films in the region, causing earnings from international markets grow manifold.

Year 2004
Venue: Singapore
Highlights: This year’s IIFA belonged to Preity Zinta and Hrithik Roshan. The duo danced to the song, Koi mil gaya (from the hit film of the same name), and Hrithik took home the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the same film.

Their film, Lakshya, directed by Farhan Akhtar, also had its world premiere during the IIFA weekend. Post IIFA, film deals were struck in conjunction with the Singapore Tourism Board for the filming of Krrish, the sequel to Koi Mil Gaya, in Singapore.

Year 2005
Venue: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Highlights: This was one of the biggest years for IIFA. A solid lineup of performances, the world premiere of Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta, and a celebrity cricket match rounded up the star-studded weekend.

The most remembered moment of the evening belonged to Aishwarya Rai, Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan. The three rocked the stage when they danced to Kajra re (from Bunty Aur Babli). The act was originally choreographed around Abhishek and Aishwarya, but AB Junior decided he needed daddy dearest on stage too!

Year 2006
Venue: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Highlights: In 2006, it was all about fun in the sun! Hindi cinema descended in Dubai and fans from all over UAE thronged Dubai.

The spotlight of the weekend lay on Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Black. Rani Mukerji and Amitabh Bachchan took home awards for Best Actor, but not without giving a live performance on stage.

Of course, who can forget Abhishek’s “I won! I won!” speech when he took home the award for Best Supporting Actor for Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar.

Year 2007
Venue: Yorkshire, England
Highlights: Having won over the world with her dignified act in Big Brother UK, Shilpa Shetty was honoured by the local government. She also wowed the audience with a well choreographed act that let her colleagues know she was back!

Another performance that went down well was the final act of the night by Govinda and Salman Khan. The two superstars showcased their upcoming film, Partner, and had the audience on their feet.

A year later in Bangkok, Govinda performed to Partner once again and got as big a response then too. The awards were such a big hit that Yorkshire recorded a 40 per cent increase in tourism after the IIFA weekend!

Year 2008
Venue: Bangkok, Thailand
Highlights: The big moment from the previous year’s ceremony were the world premiere of Sarkar Raj. This was the first time we saw Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan on screen together after their wedding.

Another big moment was Kareena Kapoor’s performance, for which beau Saif Ali Khan flew in especially from London to see her perform.