IIFA Awards Move to Toronto for 2011
Kapoor arrived in Toronto Jan. 17 to promote the gala awards, soon to be followed by Preity Zinta.
This year’s IIFA Weekend will take place June 23-25 and will feature star-studded premieres, fashion events and one of Indian cinema’s glitziest award shows.
A prominent local politician, Mississauga-Erindale provincial Parliament member Harinder Takhar, said, “As a one-of-a-kind multicultural city and one of the top financial centers in the world, Toronto is a perfect destination for showcasing the film industry of a country which is fast making its presence felt on a global platform.”
Bachchan, a founder of the awards and its public face as recently as 2009, told the Times of India in a Jan. 17 article, “IIFA says my services are not required ... It’s not me. It’s the organizers of IIFA that do not want me in Toronto. Sri Lanka [June 2010] was the same.”
IIFA and Wizcraft director Sabbas Joseph told India-West in a statement, “Mr. Bachchan’s reason for non-participation is best known to him. IIFA and Mr. Bachchan are inseparable. We will continue to pursue his participation for this year too …
“Keeping in mind the huge respect that Wizcraft and IIFA have for Mr. Bachchan and the deep relationship that we’ve always shared, we are not having anyone replace Mr. Bachchan.”
Joseph has also responded to a Jan. 11 Hindustan Times article that claimed that IIFA participants had run up Rs. 100 million rupees of debt during last June’s event in Sri Lanka. Calling the HT story “completely baseless,” Joseph said, “IIFA has cleared payments and made full settlements for all charges pertaining to the Cinnamon Grand and other hotels that have hosted any IIFA guests and events. The International Indian Film Academy and Wizcraft are not liable to pay any extra charges. All claims in this respect lack credibility.”
News From: www.indiawest.com
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