The 14th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards commemorates 100 years of Indian cinema this weekend in Macau.
The event
The IIFA Awards will take place at The Venetian Macau’s Cotai Arena on Saturday before a live audience of approximately 7,000 stars, celebrities, media and fans.
This year’s edition is set to be the most spectacular one yet, celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema over three days starting on Thursday.
“The IIFA celebrations are especially significant because we will be paying tribute to a century of Indian cinema,” says Sabbas Joseph, the director of Wizcraft International/IIFA.
“It’s been a phenomenal year for the Hindi film industry and the nominations reflect this. We also have some incredible performances lined up – it’s going to be something you don’t want to miss.”
The show will be co-hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan, who most recently hosted the event in 2005 in Amsterdam.
Leading the pack with the most number of nominations is Barfi!, which has been nominated for Best Director, Best Performance in a Leading Role (both Male and Female), Best Music Direction and Best Playback Singer (Male and Female). Other strong contenders are Vicky Donor, Gangs of Wasseypur I and Agneepath. Other films recurring in various categories are Cocktail, Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar and Jab Tak Hai Jaan.
The performers
Audiences can look forward to dance routines from an exciting line-up of A-list performers.
The highlight will no doubt be Madhuri Dixit, who ruled the box office for more than three decades. She is scheduled to perform a montage of songs from some of her most popular films in her 30-year career, taking the audience down memory lane.
Other performers are Prabhudeva and Sridevi, who will partake in a dance-off; the IIFA Awards veteran Abhishek Bachchan; and Deepika Padukone, who has also been roped in to dance to hit tunes from her recent films including Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Cocktail.
The guests
The IIFA awards are a place to see and be seen, so the list of Indian film stars attending gets longer by the day. Confirmed guests include Irrfan Khan, Vidya Balan, Anil Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Arjun Rampal, Shardha Kapoor, Dia Mirza, Anupam Kher, Boman Irani, Huma Qureshi, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shabana Azmi, Aditya Roy Kapur, Javed Akhtar and Parineeti Chopra, among others.
The IIFA story
The IIFA awards have showcased Indian cinema through spectacular celebrations every year since 2000, when the first edition was hosted at the Millennium Dome in London.
In its 14-year history, the IIFA awards have been held in cities all over the world, including Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Johannesburg, Colombo and Singapore. This year, Macau becomes one of the few destinations to host the show twice.
As in previous years, the 14th IIFA celebrations will unfold over three days, culminating in the awards distribution and grand finale on Saturday night. Star Plus will broadcast the event for the eighth consecutive year.
The Technical Awards
The winners of the IIFA Technical Awards were announced in late May. Barfi! walked away with nine of the 14 gongs: Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Production Design, Best Sound Design, Best Song Recording (Eric Pillai, Future Sound of Bombay, for the song Ala Barfi), Best Sound-mixing, Best Background Score, Best Costume Design and Best Make-Up.
Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur I won two awards: Best Action and Best Dialogue, shared with Juhi Chaturvedi for Vicky Donor.
• Visit www.iifa.com for more details
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
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Know before you go
- Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
- If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
- By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
- Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
- Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.
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