One of the biggest events in Hindi cinema, the 15th Videocon D2H International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend, concluded its debut year in the United States this past Saturday, April 26, with the Tata Motors IIFA Awards at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida. The awards, music, and dance showcase ended four days of festivities, which ran the gamut from a massive outdoor dance party to an international business expo to a music and fashion show to and an acting master class featuring Kevin Spacey. While the weekend did get some mixed attendee reaction from an organizational/operational standpoint, judging from this brief reel of highlights from the main event provided by IIFA/Wizcraft, at the very least all the activity was capped off with a splash of spectacular showmanship, thanks to the efforts of performers such as Priyanka Chopra and hosts Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor.
Unfortunately, despite months of precursor coverage and preparation, certain circumstances (namely, the failure to successfully negotiate a travel sponsorship with the powers that be) prevented me from doing the extensive in-person coverage I had long planned for all of the Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend goings-on and the city of Tampa itself, which I have never visited. Hopefully the next time IIFA/Wizcraft holds the event in the States, those plans will come to pass. In the meantime, here is the complete list of winners for the night (not counting the winners of the technical awards handed out at a separate ceremony the evening prior), with last summer's critically and popularly acclaimed sports biopic Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run) taking home the most, with five awards.
- Best Picture
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - Viacom 18 Motion Pictures & Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra - Direction
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - Performance in a Leading Role (Male)
Farhan Akhtar, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - Performance in a Leading Role (Female)
Deepika Padukone, Chennai Express - Performance in a Supporting Role (Male)
Aditya Roy Kapoor, Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani - Performance in a Supporting Role (Female)
Divya Dutta, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - Performance in a Comic Role
Arshad Warsi, Jolly LLB - Performance in a Negative Role
Rishi Kapoor, D-Day - Music Direction
Aashiqui 2 - Mithoon, Ankit Tiwari, Jeet Ganguly - Best Story
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag - Prasoon Joshi - Lyrics
"Tum Hi Ho," Aashiqui 2 - Mithoon - Playback Singer (Male)
Arijit Singh, "Tum Hi Ho," Aashiqui 2 - Playback Singer (Female)
Shreya Ghoshal, "Sunn Raha Hai," Aashiqui 2 - Best Debutant Male
Dhanush, Raanjhanaa - Best Debutant Female
Vani Kapoor, Shuddh Desi Romance - Outstanding Contribution by An Indian in the US
Drs. Kiran & Pallavi Patel - Entertainer of the Year
Deepika Padukone - Outstanding Contribution To International Cinema John Travolta
- Lifetime Achievement
Shatrughan Sinha
(Special thanks to Farhan Akhtar, Resul Pookutty, and IIFA/Wizcraft; video courtesy and copyright IIFA/Wizcraft)
