Bangkok plays host to Bollywood razmattaz
Font size:
EntertaintmentTeam
Hundreds of Indian stars prepared to dazzle their fans on Sunday at the "Bollywood Oscars," a glitzy awards ceremony expected to attract 600 million television viewers.
The gala event launched by the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) just eight years ago has become one of the film industry's most-watched events.
Celebrations began on Friday with the première of Sarkar Raj, featuring newly-wed superstars Abhishek Bachchan and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, performing with his father Amitabh Bachchan.
The celebrity couple are up for Best Male and Best Female awards for their roles in Guru, a rags-to-riches story of an Indian businessman. Vying for the coveted Best Picture award are Guru, Chak De India, Jab We Met, Om Shanti Om, Life in a Metro and Partner.
At least 500 of Bollywood's biggest names - including Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Govinda - have arrived in Bangkok to promote their unique brand of film-making outside India.
Opening glory
But the ceremony at a lavish Bangkok theatre, decorated in traditional Thai style, will highlight films that go beyond India's traditional song-and-dance fare.
Stars from suspense thriller Mission Istaanbul, action film Acid Factory and sci-fi romance Love Story 2050 will all perform on stage. Only one special performance, by stars of the romantic comedy De Taali, showcases a film that conforms to the traditional Bollywood format.
Even though Bollywood is a novelty in Thailand, security guards still struggled to control huge crowds, who turned up in force to see the Bachchans at the Sarkar Raj première on Friday.
The political thriller is exactly the kind of movie IIFA wants the world to see, an Indian film with a Hollywood sensibility and international appeal.
The film is a sequel to the 2005 film Sarkar, considered a homage to the American classic The Godfather, and is loosely based on the controversy around an Enron power plant built in India a decade ago. But filmmakers say the focus on new genres doesn't mean Indian films are leaving music behind.
Although India is the world's biggest film-going nation, cinema tickets sell for a pittance and film makers need spin-off music revenue to offset production costs. "Music is an integral part of it," said Mission director Apoorva Lakhia.
"We like our heroes or our action heroes to cry and dance. It's part of our culture and I think music is very important because it's a huge revenue as far as making the money back," he added.
The Indian film industry was valued at $2.2 billion last year, just a fraction of what Hollywood earns in a year, but organisers say that the Bollywood Oscars will help expand audiences around the globe.
They note that in the six months after the first awards show in London, Hindi cinema ticket sales grew 35 percent in Britain. The gala itself has criss-crossed the planet since the inaugural ceremony in London, heading in past years to Amsterdam, South Africa's Sun City and Yorkshire in Britain.
The gala event launched by the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) just eight years ago has become one of the film industry's most-watched events.
Celebrations began on Friday with the première of Sarkar Raj, featuring newly-wed superstars Abhishek Bachchan and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, performing with his father Amitabh Bachchan.
The celebrity couple are up for Best Male and Best Female awards for their roles in Guru, a rags-to-riches story of an Indian businessman. Vying for the coveted Best Picture award are Guru, Chak De India, Jab We Met, Om Shanti Om, Life in a Metro and Partner.
At least 500 of Bollywood's biggest names - including Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Govinda - have arrived in Bangkok to promote their unique brand of film-making outside India.
Opening glory
But the ceremony at a lavish Bangkok theatre, decorated in traditional Thai style, will highlight films that go beyond India's traditional song-and-dance fare.
Stars from suspense thriller Mission Istaanbul, action film Acid Factory and sci-fi romance Love Story 2050 will all perform on stage. Only one special performance, by stars of the romantic comedy De Taali, showcases a film that conforms to the traditional Bollywood format.
Even though Bollywood is a novelty in Thailand, security guards still struggled to control huge crowds, who turned up in force to see the Bachchans at the Sarkar Raj première on Friday.
The political thriller is exactly the kind of movie IIFA wants the world to see, an Indian film with a Hollywood sensibility and international appeal.
The film is a sequel to the 2005 film Sarkar, considered a homage to the American classic The Godfather, and is loosely based on the controversy around an Enron power plant built in India a decade ago. But filmmakers say the focus on new genres doesn't mean Indian films are leaving music behind.
Although India is the world's biggest film-going nation, cinema tickets sell for a pittance and film makers need spin-off music revenue to offset production costs. "Music is an integral part of it," said Mission director Apoorva Lakhia.
"We like our heroes or our action heroes to cry and dance. It's part of our culture and I think music is very important because it's a huge revenue as far as making the money back," he added.
The Indian film industry was valued at $2.2 billion last year, just a fraction of what Hollywood earns in a year, but organisers say that the Bollywood Oscars will help expand audiences around the globe.
They note that in the six months after the first awards show in London, Hindi cinema ticket sales grew 35 percent in Britain. The gala itself has criss-crossed the planet since the inaugural ceremony in London, heading in past years to Amsterdam, South Africa's Sun City and Yorkshire in Britain.
del.icio.us
Digg
Technorati
Email to a friend
Print version
Plain text
Comments (0 posted):
Post your comment