Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan has declared Macau as the host for the 2009 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards.
Branded as Asia’s very own Las Vegas, Macau resides in the south eastern coast of China, offering a sky line of grandiose sky scrapers, neon lights and ancient temples.
The city oozes money and boasts 26 gambling facilities along the Cotai Strip, attracting high rollers from around the world – perfect for the Bollywood glitterati attending the ceremony who might fancy their chances on striking it rich.
Since the 2000 inaugural ceremony in London’s Millennium Dome (now the O2 Centre), the prestigious IIFA Awards have taken place in many sexy locations including South Africa’s Sun City (2001), Dubai (2006), [ahem] Yorkshire (2007) and Thailand (2008), therefore Macau seems the natural destination to host this year‘s event.
Big B himself sighted Macau as “a fantastic place, a great tourist attraction. It is perhaps one of the richest states in the world today. I’m quite certain that with the IIFA being held there, there will be a great amount of interest".
Alongside the announcement of the official venue for the 10th IIFA Awards, Amitabh Bachchan also declared the nominations for this year’s ceremony which are decided through a unique voting system. In praise of the ‘transparent’ voting process exercised by IIFA Mr. Bachchan professed the credibility of the awards:
"I know how this [voting system] functions and I think this is a very fair way of doing it. Everyone comes and casts their vote on a computer, no one is provoked, you have your own voting cubicle which is much like the voting which happens in a democratic society”.
The three day affair will commence on June 11th where the likes of Kareena Kapoor and current squeeze Saif Ali Khan, Karan Johar, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif will be donning their poker faces as well as their designer gear for the celebrated event.
Until then this will give you something to chew over… the nominations are in – it’s now a waiting game to see who’s won what in which category and in true Brit-Asian fashion, we want to know your thoughts…who do you think should win a gong in each category? Are the nominees worthy of a nod and who do you think was snubbed?
The 2009 IIFA Nominations:
Best Film
A Wednesday
Dostana
Ghajini
Jodhaa Akbar
Race
Rock On
Best Director
A.R. Murugadoss – Ghajini
Madhur Bhandarkar – Fashion
Abhishek Kapoor – Rock On
Ashutosh Gowariker – Jodhaa Akbar
Neeraj Pandey – A Wednesday
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male)
Aamir Khan – Ghajini
Abhishek Bachchan – Dostana
Hrithik Roshan – Jodhaa Akbar
Naseeruddin Shah – A Wednesday
Shah Rukh Khan – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Jodhaa Akbar
Asin – Ghajini
Bipasha Basu – Race
Katrina Kaif – Singh is Kinng
Priyanka Chopra – Fashion
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)
Abhishek Bachchan – Sarkar Raj
Arjun Rampal – Rock On
Irrfan Khan – Mumbai Meri Jaan
Sonu Sood – Jodhaa Akbar
Vinay Pathak – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)
Bipasha Basu- Bachna Ae Haseeno
Ila Arun – Jodhaa Akbar
Kiron Kher – Dostana
Shahana Goswami – Rock On
Kangana Ranaut – Fashion
Best Actor in a Comic Role
Abhishek Bachchan – Dostana
Anil Kapoor- Race
Rajpal Yadav – Bhoothnath
Tejpal Singh – Jodhaa Akbar
Shreyas Talpade – Welcome to Sajjanpur
Tusshar Kapoor – Golmaal Returns
Best Actor in a Negative Role
Akshaye Khanna – Race
Imran Khan – Kidnap
Paresh Rawal – Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Pradeep Rawat – Ghajini
Vishwas Badola – Jodhaa Akbar
Best Story
Abhishek Kapoor – Rock On
Haidar Ali – Jodhaa Akbar
Madhur Bhandarkar, Ajay Monga, Anuradha Tiwari – Fashion
Neeraj Pandey – A Wednesday
Shiraz Ahmed – Race
Best Music
A.R.Rahman – Jodhaa Akbar
A.R.Rahman- Ghajini
Pritam – Race
Shankar Ehsaan Loy – Rock On
Vishal Shekhar – Dostana
Best Lyrics
Anvita Dutt Gupta – Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Jaideep Sahni – Haule Haule (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
Javed Akhtar – Jashn-E-Bahara (Jodhaa Akbar)
Javed Akhtar- Socha Hai (Rock On)
Sameer – Pehli Nazar Mein (Race)
Best Playback Singer (Male)
Atif Aslam – Pehli Nazar Mein (Race)
Farhan Akhtar – Socha Hai (Rock On)
Javed Ali – Jashn-E-Baharaa (Jodhaa Akbar)
KK- Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Sukhwinder Singh – Haule Haule (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
Best Playback Singer (Female)
Bela Shinde – Man Mohana (Jodhaa Akbar)
Monali – Zara Zara Touch Me (Race)
Shilpa Rao – Khuda Jaane (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Shreya Ghoshal – Teri Ore (Singh is Kinng)
Sunidhi Chauhan – Desi Girl (Dostana)
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