Dev Patel and Anil Kapoor in 'Slumdog Millionaire'. Courtesy 20th Century Fox
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) is bringing its annual IIFA Weekend and Awards event to Toronto for three days this coming June, marking the first time the event will be held in North America.
Known as the “Bollywood Oscars”, the IIFA Weekend and Awards celebrates Indian cinema with activities, film screenings, and the chance for many fans to get up close to their favourite Bollywood stars, including Anil Kapoor, who starred in Slumdog Millionaire, and is acting as ambassador of the event.
On the IIFA Toronto website, the reason Toronto was chosen is because, “besides being North America’s third-largest centre for film and television production, the Greater Toronto Area is also home to almost 600,000 citizens who have roots in India and maintain close ties to Indian culture.”
Running from June 23 – 25, the celebration expects to draw approximately 40,000 people to Ontario, with over 600 million international television viewers. And if the first batch of 7,000 tickets made available to the awards ceremony selling out in 5 minutes is any indication, this is going to be one amazing weekend.
If you’re interested in volunteering for IIFA Toronto, visit iifa.com or email volunteers.toronto@iifa.com. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit iifa2011toronto.com.
Know of any other interesting movie-related news or events? Email tips@criticizethis.ca and let us know.
