Bollywood's IIFA Awards headed to Toronto

[Simran_Singh]

Raj Kapoor film fest at IIFA

The 12th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend, to be held in Toronto this year, will organise a Raj Kapoor retrospect.

"I have been part of IIFA since 12 years now and for the last four years I have been performing consecutively. But this year is going to be more special to me because Wizcraft and IIFA are having a Raj Kapoor retrospect," Kareena, grand-daughter of Raj Kapoor, told reporters here Friday.

"It's going to be very special and emotional. I'm very excited about that than anything else because Raj Kapoor was not only my grandfather but a man, who defined Hindi cinema," she added

The IIFA weekend will be held across the cities of Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga and Markham in the Greater Toronto Area from June 23-25.

Filmmaker Karan Johar, who is also the advisory board member of IIFA, said the retrospect will be held in association with the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).

"TIFF is a great platform that has supported Hollywood and world cinema for many years. Recently, its association with Hindi cinema has been tremendous and now it brings the golden era man Raj Kapoor on the surface of the Hollywood industry. It's a great idea which is supported by IIFA," said Karan.

Apart from this, the three-day show will feature world premiere of a select films, an awards gala, a fashion show and other interactive events.


If the retrospective is really in association with TIFF, I wonder if that means the films will be screened at the new Lightbox theatre downtown. Because that would be awesome.

[Dolce~oro]

If the retrospective is really in association with TIFF, I wonder if that means the films will be screened at the new Lightbox theatre downtown. Because that would be awesome.

Ooooooohhhh, that would be amazing!!! I would pay good money for that, even if Raj Kapoor never made it on my "must watch every single movie from him" list.
So I guess we know for sure Kareena's coming then

And I wonder what films will premiere, other than Zindagi which is coming out that weekend anyway... Intrigued...

[dustdevil]

That looks really good. It's great that TIFF is involved, and adding something very cool to the festival. Hopefully IIFA builds similar partnerships and does this kind of programming in the future.

[exoticgal]

Hey guys,
So is anyone going to IIFA awards in Toronto this year?  Does anyone have any extra tickets because I'd like to purchase 2.  Let's have a topic about these awards.  I think even if I don't get tickets to the show, I am still going to to go Toronto that weekend just to chill because so many stars will be there!! Anyone else excited and going??

[Simran_Singh]

If the retrospective is really in association with TIFF, I wonder if that means the films will be screened at the new Lightbox theatre downtown. Because that would be awesome.

Here's the answer to my question:

Bell Lightbox to hold film retrospective for the late filmmaker to coincide with Bollywood Oscars in Toronto.

TORONTO -- Bollywood icon Raj Kapoor, a.k.a. The Showman, is to receive a retrospective by the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the upcoming International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Toronto, organizers said Wednesday.

The tribute, to follow Bollywood’s Oscars in Toronto from June 23 to 25, will include a retrospective film series from June 26 entitled Raj Kapoor and the Golden Age of Indian Cinema, to run for six weeks at Bell Lightbox, TIFF's year-round home.

Bollywood director Karan Johar will host the Bell Lightbox sidebar for Kapoor, who opened his own studio, RK Films, at 24 years old.

Kapoor also spawned a major family dynasty, which includes granddaughter Kareena Kapoor, a major Bollywood leading lady nominated this year for a best actress IIFA for the film Golmaal 3.   

The Kapoor tribute was unveiled by Sabbas Joseph, director of the IIFA Award organizers Wizcraft International Entertainment and Bell Lightbox artistic director Noah Cowan.

[Dolce~oro]

While I am very disturbed that Kareena got nominated for Golmaal 3 (and I love her, don't get me wrong, but seriously?? That's best actress material??  ) I am also very happy that she will be here for the tribute, it would be very exciting to see her in real life.

Also, here's an article on filmicafe with some additional info, including some of the names of the 15 films that are to be screened:
"Raj Kapoor and the Golden Age of Indian Cinema will feature 15 iconic Raj Kapoor classics including Aag, Barsaat, Awara, Aah, Boot Polish, Shree 420, Jagte Raho, Jis Des Mein Ganga Behti Hai, Sangam, Mera Naam Joker, Kal Aaj Aur Kal, Bobby, Satyam Shivam Sundaram and others."
Whole article here: http://www.filmicafe.com/news_detail.php?news_id=18705&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Simran_Singh]

The lineup and schedule for the Raj Kapoor retrospective has finally been posted on the TIFF website. And it's pretty spectacular.

http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiffbelllightbox/2011/201104270054032

[Dolce~oro]

The lineup and schedule for the Raj Kapoor retrospective has finally been posted on the TIFF website. And it's pretty spectacular.

http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/tiffbelllightbox/2011/201104270054032

And thankfully it's not all Raj Kapoor either Far from it.

[Simran_Singh]

Hm. Well I finally had time to sit down and take a closer look at the schedule for the "Raj Kapoor & The Golden Age of Indian Cinema" program, and I have to say I am surprised and disappointed by some of their scheduling choices - particularly the scheduling of Awaara and Shree 420 - arguably two of Raj Kapoor's best, and best-known films - on Friday afternoons

[acooluserrname]

http://www.filmicafe.com/news_detail.php?news_id=19583

SRK is confirmed.

[jjake61]

So Dolce~oro and ACUN are going..how about James? I know bloggers Filmigirl and Beth Loves Bolly are going. Any other bloggers or BWers going that people know about? I plan on closely watching the blogosphere as well as twitter so it would be nice to have a list of blogs and tweeters and BW-ers that are going so we can live vicariously through them...

[James]

I'm interested in going, and I have friends who are interested, too, but I heard the tickets are all sold out? I was thinking of perhaps going to the Green Carpet just for fun, but haven't set any real plans for that yet.
ETA: All the articles I've read have said that tickets were sold out in five minutes and the only way to go is to pay scalpers' rates, unfortunately.

[MinaS]

So Dolce~oro and ACUN are going..how about James? I know bloggers Filmigirl and Beth Loves Bolly are going. Any other bloggers or BWers going that people know about? I plan on closely watching the blogosphere as well as twitter so it would be nice to have a list of blogs and tweeters and BW-ers that are going so we can live vicariously through them...

I have only just picked up on this and am totally green with envy of anyone able to go to this (esp as I will be in Toronto from mid-July so am missing it by only a few weeks!) So I second jjake61's request for any blogs/tweeters covering this.

[jjake61]

Ok on Twitter: (I'll post more if I find them)
@filmigirl
@bethlovesbolly
@kaymathews
@Dolce_and_Namak

All are Bolly bloggers and Dolce~oro is a BW-er and Beth too (I think) occaisionally posts on BW? They are going to either be blogging or tweeting. I think we will be able to convince ACUN to share some of her adventures here too..

[namastemia]

hoping to catch it on PPV. we will see how that goes.

[jjake61]

The cbc is live blogging the IIFA

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/06/13/live-blog-iifa2011.html

[namastemia]

its 30 bucks on PPV.   i might have to wait for the youtube showing. 

[ApunBindaas]

Ok on Twitter: (I'll post more if I find them)
@filmigirl
@bethlovesbolly
@kaymathews
@Dolce_and_Namak

All are Bolly bloggers and Dolce~oro is a BW-er and Beth too (I think) occaisionally posts on BW? They are going to either be blogging or tweeting. I think we will be able to convince ACUN to share some of her adventures here too..

Don't forget Honey on Twitter @thedailyhoney - she has some HQ photos of IIFA on her blog - http://thedailyhoney.com

[Dolce~oro]

And the winners:

Best Film: Dabangg
Best Direction: Karan Johar for My Name is Khan
Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan for My Name is Khan
Best Actress: Anushka Sharma for Band Baaja Baaraat
Best Supporting Actor: Arjun Rampal for Rajneeti
Best Supporting Actress: Prachi Desai for Once upon a time in Mumbai
Outstanding achievement in international cinema: Irrfan Khan
Best performance in javascript:void(0);a Negative role: Sonu Sood for Dabangg
Best comic role: Riteish Deshmukh for Housefull
Best Debut (female): Sonakshi Sinha
Best Debut (male): Ranveer Singh
Green Globe Award: Priyanka Chopra
Hottest Pair: Anushka Sharma and Ranveer Singh 
Outstanding achievement in Indian cinema: Sharmila Tagore and Dharmendra

[mala]

What is the Green Globe Award?

And was there always a Hottest Pair award, or did they make that up this year?

[Sanyogita]

A rather depressing article from Shobhaa De's blog:

Blogdosts... this was sent to me as a forward by a usually reliable source. I cannot vouch for its authenticity, but it seems genuine enough. If any of you reading this happened to be at the venue, you'd know!

*******************

Written by Nitin Kumar

wish to give you my notions on the supposedly grand IIFA awards that just happened last weekend.

All over the social media including the page of a prominent South Asian website, many South Asians are criticizing the actual awards ceremony. Even though the stage was fascinating and the production fabulous, the show itself was a big disappointment filled with corny jokes and poor performances with panting lead dancers, uncomfortable pauses of silence, sub-grade sound quality, etc. The show was so pathetic that the hosts had to actually ask people for standing ovations! Standing ovations should come impromptu, when the performers say or do something that strikes a chord with the audience. Also, not enough big time stars showed up. Preity Zinta, Hritik Roshan, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and a host of others were no shows.

So what did we taxpayers get for $12m that Michael Chan, the Ontario minister for tourism and culture, proclaimed Ontario dished out? Even he on Matt Galloway’s CBC metro morning show on Tuesday, June 21 seemed sceptical about the immediate benefits that supposedly drew in only 40,000 visitors, unlike other home grown festivals that draw a million plus visitors. All we got was a poorly organized and second rate awards ceremony that did not respect time (it started an hour late) and dragged on for 5 hours so that by the time the people rolled out, there was no TTC available to go home. Also many are questioning as to what exactly happened to the $12m? Was it used to pay exorbitant fees to enrich already rich Indian actors? If that is the case, surely the money will go out of Canada. And for what? To please the South Asian diaspora from which many are actually cribbing at how badly they got ripped off?

Besides this, right after the Brampton buzz event held over the June 17-19 weekend, one bold Bramptonian questioned the Mayor of Brampton on her facebook page as to what happened to the $300K that was apportioned to Brampton. The reply from the Mayor’s office was that no such amount was spent on the buzz event, that they were rumours. Also the rumoured $50K-$80K paid to Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu was denied. A few hours after Michael Chan came on CBC radio stating that all communities got $300K through a program called ‘Celebrate’, the whole thread on this subject was deleted from the Mayor of Brampton’s facebook page. Are we living in a democracy where we are allowed to express our opinion freely or what? Isn’t the Mayor’s facebook page there to express citizens’ gripes as well as praise the Mayor for the many good things she has done (and she definitely has, I will not deny that).

Another major question is did IIFA really crack the mainstream market? As Matt Galloway said on CBC metro morning, GTA’s number one morning radio show, for many it is a circus.

So Ontario dished out $12m plus $300K for each community, i.e $13m plus for a mediocre circus?! One that did not even please the audience it was meant for?! Maybe there was more money spent that we are unaware of.

Mohit Rajhans- who also comes on CBC radio, asked Bollywood actor Anupam Kher at the awards if Toronto should host more such shows. Kher said yes. When Mohit asked our premier Dalton McGuinty the same question, he was non-committal; some say the premier’s mannerism was such that even he seemed unsure about the sanity of spending so many millions for a circus.

I hope the Ontario government has learned a lesson. $13m could have been better spent on more meaningful programs. If certain cultures want to break into the North American market, they should do it on their own steam and money not ours


Cross-posted in the Bollywood Masala IIFA thread. I'm interested in knowing if any of the BWhatters who were at the awards agree with this point of view.