For the past few months Canadian-Indians have been looking forward to what was being touted as the Bollywood event of the year, the IIFA weekend. By now, you’ve seen the IIFA footage on TV and read stories in the papers but we have the inside scoop on how the event really turned out from the perspective of local attendees. Overall, though the buzz in Toronto was great and people were excited to see the few stars who showed up for the ceremony, it seems most people who watched the awards at home enjoyed it much more than those who actually attended.
South Asian media personality Angelie Sood was impressed by Toronto’s spirit. “It’s amazing to see South Asian culture being celebrated to this level in Toronto. The fans were so enthusiastic and the feeling is contagious. How can you not be excited when you are meeting Hema Malini and Shah Rukh Khan?!”
*The following quotes are from anonymous attendees who didn’t wish to be named.
“What can you say about an award show that was too long (5 hours), had too much talking and not enough entertainment? Considering the words entertainment and movies is the very background of Bollywood, IIFA has definitely missed the mark. The buzz in Toronto was certainly hot but considering there has been no star show here for years now it just proved that the film industry is alive and well. How else do you explain the frenzy for mostly B and C list stars? To sum up IIFA? Boring! Unless you are not interested in A stars! In that case Gulshan Grover anyone?”
“Overall it was a great waste of Canadian taxpayer’s money which makes one wonder how Canada was not so badly affected by the crash of the world economy. The Deols didn’t disappoint when they proved on stage that yes it is true, some Punjabis really can’t dance. The security for the event was extremely bad, Shahrukh Khan was attacked twice! Once as he was entering the green carpet a woman jumped the barricade and knocked him to the ground. The 2nd time on stage while he was speaking a man rushed up on the stage and held onto his leg and wouldn’t let go.”
“The fashion show the night before was the bigger winner in entertainment but the loser when it came to the hall being less than half full. How can the media report 22,000 for the fashion show when the Ricoh Coliseum holds aprox 5,000 seats? As for the Floriana IIFA show, yes it was full but only 1/4 of the Roger’s Centre was used and most people regretted not staying home to watch it on TV which had better sound and coverage of what was happening on the stage.”
Speaking about the ladies, “It was interesting that at a movie premiere, Mallika Sherawat sulked in her chair onstage and refused to get up even though she was called 3 times and the crowd could clearly see her. Rumour has it Ms. Sherawat was not pleased that Bipasha Basu (also in attendance) was treated as a bigger star. As for Kangna Ranaut, well she may be a style icon in Mumbai but in North America she could have used some style tips from Shilpa Shetty who looked stunning in a Dolce & Gabbana number at the awards.”
Looks like the IIFA committee has a lot to work on before next year’s event!