International Indian Film Academy Awards Coming To Toronto
Posted December 9, 2009 9:57 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Canadian Bollywood fans are in for a big treat.
Organizers have announced the International Indian Film Academy Awards will be held in Toronto in June 2011 – the first time the massive event will take place in North America.
The actual awards ceremony will end a four-day festival celebrating Indian cinema spanning June 16 to 19th. The event is expected to draw more than 500 people from the Bollywood industry, about 40,000 visitors and a television audience of more than 350 million viewers.
“Ontario is thrilled to host the 2011 International Indian Academy Awards. With so many film buffs living in Ontario, Indian film stars and executives will feel right at home. We look forward to an eventful and successful weekend and awards,”Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said in a statement.
The event is held in a different city each year. The 2009 edition was held in Macau. The awards began in 2000 with the festival held at the Millennium Dome in London, England.
“We are pleased to announce IIFA’s North American premiere in Toronto, Ontario in 2011. The city has much to offer and the weekend and awards promise to be bigger than ever as IIFA steps into Canada. We have earlier experienced a great response in Toronto with The Unforgettable Tour and hope to find the same experience with IIFA 2011,” Viraf Sarkari, Director, IIFA, said.
Actors Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan caused quite a stir in Toronto in August 2007 when they visited to promote the aforementioned Unforgettable Tour.
And the pair visited Toronto earlier the same year for the premier of the hotly anticipated flick “Guru” and hundreds of fans turned out. That event marked the first time a mainstream Bollywood picture premiered outside of India.
