1 hour agoAuthor: Ashish Tiwari
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IIFA, which started in London in the year 2000 with the aim of giving recognition to Indian cinema on the international stage, has today completed a journey of 27 years. From Amitabh Bachchan to Shahrukh Khan, Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan, the presence of many big Bollywood stars has made this platform special.
Many new things will also be seen in the upcoming IIFA to be held in Abu Dhabi. Salman Khan’s multi-starrer performance, Janhvi Kapoor’s tribute to mother Sridevi, hosting of Mirzapur Gang on digital platform and Himesh Reshammiya’s first IIFA performance will be the special attractions of this time.
IIFA co-founder Andre Timmins, in a special conversation with Dainik Bhaskar, spoke openly about its 27-year journey, initial challenges, interesting stories related to big stars and future plans. He also informed that there are plans to launch IIFA Worldwide in Las Vegas in 2028, where Indian and Hollywood cinema will be honored on one platform.
Question: IIFA, which started in London in 2000, has now completed a journey of 27 years. Did you ever think that it would become such a big platform?
answer: To be honest, we had not imagined such a big journey in the beginning. Our aim was to take Indian cinema to the global stage and give it international respect. Amitabh Bachchan and Yukta Mukhi, who became Miss World that year, were present at our first press conference in London. After this, discussion about IIFA started in the media.
About 2,500 special guests attended the first event held at the Millennium Dome. Veterans like Amitabh Bachchan, Shatrughan Sinha, Dilip Kumar, Sunil Dutt, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle, Shahrukh Khan, Yash Chopra, Yash Johar and Anil Kapoor supported us. International stars including Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Thora Birch and Kylie Minogue also arrived.
At that time, it was a big challenge to handle a crew of around 400 people, make everyone’s arrangements and start the show on time. Akshay Kumar’s performance with Shaolin Monks was memorable. Jackie Chan coming on stage at the end was also special.
IIFA founder Andre Timmins said – initially I did not think that the global journey of Indian cinema would last for 27 years.
Question: Where did the idea of IIFA come from?
answer : Before this, we were doing award shows domestically for eight-nine years. In the year 2000 we thought that Indian cinema should be taken to the international platform. We had options like cricket and cinema, but we chose cinema.
Music, emotions and drama connect people in Hindi films. Our objective was also to connect the second and third generations of Indian origin living abroad with our culture. We wanted to make Indian cinema a global brand. Initially did not think that it would last for 27 years.
Question: How difficult was it to take IIFA forward after the first event?
answer: After London, the biggest question was how to run it further. For a big event, passion alone is not enough, its commercial model is also necessary. We held the event in Sun City, South Africa. There Sony channel had bought Aamir Khan’s film ‘Lagaan’.
We decided to premiere the film with IIFA. Due to this the event became two days long. Aamir Khan, who usually stays away from award shows, was there for the premiere of ‘Lagaan’. After this, enthusiasm about Hindi cinema increased in South Africa.
Gradually we also added film premieres, workshops, film festivals and business forums. Sponsorship, ticket sales and cooperation with foreign governments created a sustainable model of IIFA.
Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal and Abhishek Banerjee will take charge of the digital platform in IIFA.
Question: IIFA’s identity has remained intact over the years. What things do you never compromise on?
answer: The most important thing is respect and trust. The industry knows that our intentions are pure and we want to bring respect to Indian cinema in the world. The second thing is quality. Along with paying the artists, we also invest heavily in stage, production and technical arrangements.
The third thing is new experiments. We have started concepts like IIFA Utsavam for South Indian cinema, Digital Awards for digital platforms and IIFA Insider for creators. Now there are also plans to organize IIFA Rangeelo for Gujarati cinema and events related to Marathi cinema.
Question: What will be the biggest feature of IIFA in Abu Dhabi this time?
answer: This time we are also connecting the digital audience with the traditional award show. Varun Dhawan will host on the main stage. Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal and Abhishek Banerjee will host on the digital platform. It will be interesting to see these actors associated with ‘Mirzapur’ in a different style.
The performance will include stars like Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Rashmika Mandanna. Janhvi Kapoor will give a special tribute to her mother Sridevi. Karan Johar, Manish Paul and for the first time Ananya Pandey will also be co-hosting with Varun Dhawan. Apart from this, Himesh Reshammiya will perform for the first time in IIFA at the Digital Awards. We have big plans for his act.
Question: What is the strategy to connect digital audience through OTT last year and YouTube Live this time?
answer: Both traditional TV and digital have their own importance. TV has a wide audience, while the younger generation is more active on YouTube. We want to take both of them together. Our aim is to retain the core identity of IIFA – a celebration of music, dance, fun and cinema. Through the digital platform, we also want to reach those audiences who watch entertainment in a different way than traditional TV.
Question: There is curiosity every time about Salman Khan’s performance. What will be new this time?
answer: We are going to meet Salman. He also wants to do something new and different in his act. This time many other stars will also participate in his performance. That means the audience will get to see a multi-starrer performance. Rest of its details will be finalized after the meeting.
Question: What was the reason for going to Abu Dhabi again?
answer: We were considering options like Greece, Malaysia and Singapore, but Abu Dhabi seemed the most suitable. Its distance from India is also less. Yas Arena and the administration there work very smoothly with us. When we talked to Salman, he jokingly said that Abu Dhabi is nearby, so he should not be taken too far. This spontaneity and mutual understanding matters to us.
Janhvi Kapoor will pay tribute to Sridevi at IIFA.
Question: Apart from entertainment, what else will be special in Abu Dhabi?
answer: We are organizing masterclasses for students. There is a plan to involve about 150 local students under ‘Friends of IIFA’. There will also be a business forum on media and entertainment. Telangana has become our state partner. He will promote his film city and film institute internationally. Our aim is to make IIFA not just an awards show but a big platform related to cinema, business, education and culture.
Question: Is there a possibility of any international star coming this time?
answer: We are in touch with some international stars. Seeing who may be present in the area at the time of the event. The final picture regarding this will become clear later. We are also trying to include local stars on the stage.
Question: John Travolta came to Tampa IIFA in 2014. Will we see more such international collaborations in the future?
answer: Of course, it has always been our aim to take Indian cinema to the international platform. In this direction, we are planning to launch IIFA Worldwide in English language in Las Vegas in 2028. The idea is to honor Indian cinema and Hollywood on one platform.
Imagine Shah Rukh Khan and Kevin Hart hosting together, Billie Eilish and A.R. Rahman performs or Hrithik Roshan and Jennifer Lopez are seen together. We are envisioning similar major international collaborations.
Question: Which were the most challenging events in your journey of 27 years?
answer: The events in Sri Lanka and Toronto were very challenging. It was not easy to organize the event immediately following the internal conditions in Sri Lanka. Stars like Shahrukh Khan and Priyanka Chopra were present in Toronto, but flight cancellations and logistics problems of many other artists created a lot of tension at the last moment. At big events, not everything goes according to plan. In such times, team support and taking decisions on time is most important.
Salman Khan’s explosive performance will take place in Abu Dhabi.
Question: Is there any incident related to Salman Khan during IIFA which is still remembered?
answer: Salman had to come to Dubai. He had already boarded the 4 am flight, when he called and said that he was not feeling well and he would come by the 9 am flight. I asked how will their luggage be unloaded now? He said leave the stuff there and he would go home and come back at nine in the morning. I thought that maybe he would not be able to come, but he went home, did not even sleep and reached there by catching the nine o’clock flight. Those three-four hours were very stressful for me, but his commitment was amazing.
Question: Working with such big stars, who did you learn the most from?
answer: Working with Amitabh Bachchan ji has always been special. I spent ten years with him at IIFA. His vision of making Indian cinema respected across the world was huge. His guidance and blessings have been instrumental in the journey of IIFA.
Question: What is your biggest wish regarding IIFA?
answer: We want people to consider IIFA as their own. When someone is asked whose IIFA belongs to, instead of taking the name of any organizer, he should take the name of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan or Shahrukh Khan. This is our success. We are all like a family and want this family to grow bigger around the world.
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