Foreign front: IIFA: much more than just ‘awards’

The last week of June saw Madrid being taken over by Bollywood’s crème de la crème, who had come together to celebrate Indian cinema with The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) for the IIFA Weekend 2016. Contrary to popular belief, IIFA celebrations are spread over a weekend, instead of just an evening gala to hand out the trophies.

Westin Palace (June 23)

IIFA hosted the opening press conference to unveil the 17th edition of the Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend and the NEXA IIFA Awards. It was attended by the performers for IIFA Rocks and the IIFA Awards including Salman Khan, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Shahid Kapoor, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Sonakshi Sinha and our very own Fawad Khan.

During the event, Anil Kapoor’s son, Harshvardhan Kapoor, was also ‘launched’. His debut film, Mirzya, directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra with a screenplay by Gulzar and music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Mirzya is based on Mirza and Sahiba’s tragic love story, and is set in rural Rajasthan.

Whenever celebrities come together, there is gossip and entertainment. And this press conference was no different. From the now-estranged Priyanka Chopra and Shahid Kapoor sharing a stage and Deepika straightening her dress for modesty’s sake, to Salman Khan picking on Deepika and Priyanka (in good humour), it was certainly entertaining to say the very least.

IIFA Rocks — the music spectacle

IIFA celebrates the entire film industry rather than focusing on those we see on screen. IIFA Rocks is a testament to this, for it celebrates music and awards the technical personnel behind films such as Bajirao Mastani and Bajrangi Bhaijaan among others.

The hosts for the evening were Karan Johar and Fawad Khan, with Manish Paul as a guest host. The musical treats included performances by noted music director-composer-singer Pritam, the melodious sounds from Kanika Kapoor with Meet Brothers, Benny Dayal and Neeti Mohan among others rounding off the evening’s performances. National Award winner Monali Thakur with Papon also serenaded the audience.

Alongside the gamut of musical acts and performances, celebrated Indian fashion designer Vikram Phadnis also showcased his collection in a breathtaking manner. The collection which was titled ‘The night of sparkling stars’, comprised voluminous skirts with Phadnis’ signature embroidery, capes, peplum tops with understated zippers, ruffles and pleats statements — trends for the upcoming season.

IIFA Rocks’ top five moments

Deepika Padukone performs at the ceremony

Diljit Dosanjh, who made his debut with Udta Punjab, jammed on stage with Pritam Chakraborty. His energy was contagious, and his demeanour spoke of his respect and dedication to his profession. He’s one to look out for.

Neha Dhupia walked down the green carpet looking stunning in a Marks & Spencer white jumpsuit with a sunny yellow cape.

Fawad Khan scored full points from Bollywood belles: Frieda Pinto was duly impressed, Sonakshi Sinha faked a swoon and Deepika Padukone went down on her knees in reverence of Indian cinema’s latest discovery from Pakistan.

Vikram Phadnis dressed Sanju Baba (aka Sanjay Dutt) in a showstopper outfit along with Bipasha Basu, Karan Singh Grover, Athiya Shetty and Dia Mirza.

Thumka queen Shilpa Shetty took the stage by storm and performed to a medley of her super-hit songs until the audience cheer drowned out the music. By the way, do you know she holds the record of 84 thumkas in one minute?

IIFA Awards 2016: Bajirao Mastani and Bajrangi Bhaijaan in a head-to-head

Sooraj Pancholi, Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh

Two massive blockbusters, but only one takes it all home. IIFA Awards were highly anticipated as they were the last before the season concluded, and would finally decide who’s the winner. As it turned out, honours were evenly shared though Bajirao edged Bajrangi in numbers, and Bajrangi went away with the main award.

The green carpet for the event was abuzz with glitz and glamour. Amongst the best dressed were Priyanka Chopra in Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Priyanka Chopra in Schiaparelli Couture, Bipasha Basu and Sonakshi Sinha in Abujani Sandeep Khosla, and Bhumni Pednekar in Shantanu & Nikhil. The men weren’t too far behind with Fawad Khan in Republic by Omar Farooq, Ranveer Singh in Tom Ford, Karan Johar in Manish Malhotra and Hrithik Roshan in a customised Troy Costa.

Best dressed: Fawad Khan in Republic by Omar Farooq

The event hosted by Pappu and Raju, aka Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar, saw the most stunning (and expensive) performances IIFA has ever staged — Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Sonakshi Sinha and Tiger Shroff are some of the stars who took to the stage to perform. Sonakshi Sinha danced to Sridevi’s legendary Hawa Hawaii (and other songs) as a special tribute to the original superstar.

What made the performances and experiences truly extraordinary were stage production, theatrics and screen projection taken to a whole new level with props and set design par excellence.

Top five moments

Athiya Shetty and Sooraj Pancholi on winning the Best Jodi Award

Sooraj Pancholi almost choked on emotions while accepting his award for IIFA Jodi of the Year with Athiya Shetty. He dedicated the award to Salman Khan, and thanked him for discovering, supporting and helping him get where he is. It got the industry’s ‘bhaijaan’ quite sentimental.

Ranveer Singh dedicated his Leading Role (Male) award to his ladylove and said: “She is Leela to my Ram, Mastani to my Bajirao, best actress to my best actor.” And Deepika dedicated her performance (on a medley of Bajirao Mastani’s songs) to him.

Salman Khan got groovy with a stellar performance. And as if his presence wasn’t enough, he brought Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh, Sooraj Pancholi and Deepika Padukone to shake it alongside him on stage.

Benny Dayal extended his condolences to the late Amjad Sabri’s family and said that his untimely death is a major loss.

Sonakshi Sinha’s Louboutins, however gorgeous, were quite painful. She secretly told us, “I would feel like a princess if I can walk barefoot right now.”

The IIFA Weekend was, on the whole, a well-organised and executed event. However, like most such events, there were lapses which can only be credited to human error and technical failures. Printers malfunctioned, interviews were rescheduled, there was an endless wait for celebrities to arrive and other such incidents dampened moods slightly, but not enough to affect the dazzle of it all.

You heard it first at IIFA!

• Anupam Kher to make his Hollywood debut with his 500th film.

• Anil Kapoor said that he would love to work in Pakistan.

• Karan Johar has watched Fawad Khan’s TV serials Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, but refrains from watching any other dramas for he fears he won’t be able to stop and get addicted. “Binge watching” he calls it.

• When Karan Singh Grover proposed to Bipasha Basu, she said: “What? Why do you want to get married to me? I’m not supposed to get married!” Fifteen minutes later, she said yes!

• Deepika Padukone says she would love to visit Pakistan, for work or otherwise, to see what Pakistan is all about.