IIFA Awards: Ready to Rock Toronto!
By Rachna Kapur
June 15, 2011

Toronto is gearing up for the 12th Annual Indian International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards which is dubbed as the "Bollywood Oscars". Big name Bollywood celebs will be present for this spectacular three-day event celebrating Indian cinema between June 23-25, 2011 in Toronto, Canada. IIFA is being held in North America for the first time, the awards show is expected to attract over 40,000 visitors to Toronto and around 700 million television viewers across the world.
Every big name Bollywood celebrity will be in attendance from Salman Khan to Shahrukh Khan. Some of the other notable celebrities in attendance will include the Kapoor family – Neetu, Rajiv, Randhir, and Rishi, Preity Zinta, Anil Kapoor, the Deols – Bobby and Sunny Deol and their father Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Bipasha Basu, Mallika Sherawat, Priyanka Chopra, Shilpa Shetty, Boman Irani, Karan Johar, Esha Deol, Arbaaz and Malaika Arora Khan, Fardeen and Zayed Khan, Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Madhavan, Ranveer Singh, Zeenat Aman, Sharmila Tagore, Shatrrughan Sinha and many others...
The weekend will include press conferences, movie screenings, fashion shows, after parties and the coveted IIFA Awards.
There will be twenty films screened across four cities in Canada – Toronto, Markham, Brampton and Mississauga, during the festival. They include films such as 'Dabangg’, ‘Chak De India’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, Dil to Pagal Hai’, ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Black’, and ‘Dilwale Dhulania Le Jayenge’.
As a welcome gesture to Indian Cinema, the City of Brampton in Ontario, Canada, will name a street after the legendary star and director, Raj Kapoor on Friday, June 24th. When constructed, the street will be named the ‘Raj Kapoor Crescent’ and will be part of a new infrastructure in the city. Several members of the Kapoor Family will be present to witness this event. Bollywood stars Karan Johar and Anushka Sharma will host 'IIFA Rocks' the same night, which is a music and fashion event. IIFA Rocks will also feature performances by Neha Dhupia, Dia Mirza, Mallika Sherawat, the cast of Double Dhamaal, and Shankar-Eshaan-Loy. This event will also feature collections from Indian designers Sabyasachi, Rajesh Pratap Singh and Vikram Phadnis.
On Saturday, June 25th, the IIFA awards will take place and will feature a major highlight- Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of Michael Jackson, will team up with Sonu Nigam to pay tribute to his brother. Shahrukh Khan, the Deols, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Mallika Sherawat and Dia Mirza will also be performing at this event.
Stay tuned for more IIFA coverage on Urban Milan!
Every big name Bollywood celebrity will be in attendance from Salman Khan to Shahrukh Khan. Some of the other notable celebrities in attendance will include the Kapoor family – Neetu, Rajiv, Randhir, and Rishi, Preity Zinta, Anil Kapoor, the Deols – Bobby and Sunny Deol and their father Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Bipasha Basu, Mallika Sherawat, Priyanka Chopra, Shilpa Shetty, Boman Irani, Karan Johar, Esha Deol, Arbaaz and Malaika Arora Khan, Fardeen and Zayed Khan, Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Madhavan, Ranveer Singh, Zeenat Aman, Sharmila Tagore, Shatrrughan Sinha and many others...
The weekend will include press conferences, movie screenings, fashion shows, after parties and the coveted IIFA Awards.
There will be twenty films screened across four cities in Canada – Toronto, Markham, Brampton and Mississauga, during the festival. They include films such as 'Dabangg’, ‘Chak De India’, ‘Rang De Basanti’, Dil to Pagal Hai’, ‘Hera Pheri’, ‘Black’, and ‘Dilwale Dhulania Le Jayenge’.
As a welcome gesture to Indian Cinema, the City of Brampton in Ontario, Canada, will name a street after the legendary star and director, Raj Kapoor on Friday, June 24th. When constructed, the street will be named the ‘Raj Kapoor Crescent’ and will be part of a new infrastructure in the city. Several members of the Kapoor Family will be present to witness this event. Bollywood stars Karan Johar and Anushka Sharma will host 'IIFA Rocks' the same night, which is a music and fashion event. IIFA Rocks will also feature performances by Neha Dhupia, Dia Mirza, Mallika Sherawat, the cast of Double Dhamaal, and Shankar-Eshaan-Loy. This event will also feature collections from Indian designers Sabyasachi, Rajesh Pratap Singh and Vikram Phadnis.
On Saturday, June 25th, the IIFA awards will take place and will feature a major highlight- Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of Michael Jackson, will team up with Sonu Nigam to pay tribute to his brother. Shahrukh Khan, the Deols, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Mallika Sherawat and Dia Mirza will also be performing at this event.
Stay tuned for more IIFA coverage on Urban Milan!