From its inception in 2000 up until 2009, Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan was an integral part of the much anticipated and talked-about IIFA Awards. But suddenly in 2010, he and the rest of the Bachchan khandan gave the awards (being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka) a miss.
Apparently, the film industry in South India asked him to boycott the event because of the Sri Lankan political situation with the southern part of India. Senior Bachchan apparently consented because he did not want the film Raavan – starring Abhishek and Aishwarya, to face any flack on home turf. We also hear it was because they did not “consult” him before choosing Sri Lanka as the destination for the awards. And to add insult to injury, the organizers hired Salman Khan (Aishwarya’s ex, no less) to host the ceremony.
This boycott by the Bachchans apparently angered the upper-brass at IIFA and this year, they in turn, boycotted Amitabh and the rest of the family by not inviting them, giving them an award or involving them in any other way.
In fact, the Twitter-savvy superstar also tweeted to his fans: “Not coming to Toronto IIFA… IIFA says my services are not required!”
Psst! Although when we looked for it the Tweet appears to have been deleted, hmmm.
But it’s apparently Bachchan who is having the last laugh in “sweet” revenge. For, if sources within the industry are to be believed, Bachchan purposely tweeted the announcement of Aishwarya’s pregnancy at precisely the same time the IIFA Awards were scheduled in Toronto.
Bachchan tweeted the news on the night of June 22nd 2011. And the IIFA was held from the 23rd to the 25th of June 2011.
Coincidence?! Apparently not! My sources – on strict conditions of anonymity – tell me that the date of Aishwarya’s pregnancy announcement was carefully chosen so that it would center all the buzz and news around the Bachchans, thus stealing some limelight away from the IIFA Awards in Toronto.
Did it work? Yes, because Twitter and every networking site were in a tizzy, as were the over-zealous press corps.
Clearly the Bachchan family is having the last laugh with their good news while the guys at IIFA are facing flack for a poor show!