This year my grandmother insisted that she would visit us only if we all went to Toronto, Canada to watch the IIFA Award festival. Luckily, we procured some VIP tickets to the Toronto IIFA Awards. The tickets gave us entry to a premiere night of a movie called “Double Dhamaal” and a glitzy fashion show by Indian designers Rajesh Pratap Singh and Vikram Phadnis to the great music of the Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio. We also had privileged views of the dazzling main award ceremony of IIFA, or International Indian Film Academy, where we could see all, well most of, the Indian movie stars. From June 23rd to June 25th Toronto rocked to the tunes of Bollywood.

All proceeds went to the Indian International Academy Foundation to support the families of film industry workers who have been injured during the making of films. This was the first time IIFA was held in North America. Following the tradition of previous years, this year IIFA again popularized efforts against global warming, choosing to roll a green carpet rather than Hollywood’s red carpet.

While the fashion show was presented by the Band Baaja Baaraat’s lead actress Anushka Sharma and by director Karan Johar, the awards were hosted by Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh. Every one enjoyed the jamming of the famous Indian singer Sonu Nigam with the brother of Michael Jackson, Jermaine Jackson. Their music was a tribute to the legendary singer Michael Jackson.

Saturday night was the big night fans had waited for—and so had my grandmother. Some of the stars that have lapsed generations in the Bollywood industry showed up with the entire family. One such family was the Kapoors. Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, and Ranbir Kapoor showed up with their mother Mrs. Krishna Raj Kapoor. Dharmendra danced and entertained with his sons Sunny and Bobby Deol. He announced that this time he had come to promote his daughter Esha Deol’s movie which was being released the next day. Hema Malini and Sharmila Tagore came with their daughters Esha Deol and Soha Ali Khan, respectively. The loudest screams and most swoons took place when the King of Bollywood, Shahrukh Khan came to the stage.

On Friday Dia Mirza premiered her upcoming Bollywood item song during the fashion show, Shankar Mahadevan sang a series of his renowned songs, and RDB ended the night with rattling, raucous rap that vibrated the stadium. Priyanka Chopra mesmerized the audience by her several medley dances, especially when she swayed her way through the spectators. Boman and Ritesh presented four humorous short films that mixed and matched Bollywood directors and movie schemes. The duo acted in a hilarious skit with Shahrukh Khan and dressed Arjun Rampal as a “desi girl” and had him dance along with them. Finally Shahrukh, with a sprained knee, put sections of the audience in the spotlight and instructed them on a few dance moves. Asha Bhosle spoke after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, “There are two things that God has given in abundance: strong support from my children and love from my audience. Now I am coming to a movie called “Maaee.’

For me, the finest highlight of the night was when my cousin Sonakshi Sinha received the Best Female Debut award for “Dabangg.” Ranveer Singh received Best Male Debut for “Band Baaja Baaraat,” and Karan Johar gave them the IIFA challenge- to prepare a dance on short notice, which they skillfully completed. Best Director went to Karan Johar for “My Name Is Khan,” Best Female Actor went to Anushka Sharma for “Band Baaja Baaraat,” and Best Male Actor of course went to Shahrukh Khan for “My Name Is Khan.” Ritesh Deshmukh won Best Actor in a Comic Role. Still, “Dabangg” dominated the scoreboards as the Best Film of 2011, as it was also recognized for Best Performance in a Negative Role, Best Female Debut, Best Screenplay, Best Playback Singer, Best Playback Song, Best Music Direction, Best Sound Re-recording, Best Choreography, and Best Action.

Toronto was thus added to ten other locations that have hosted the IIFA Award ceremonies, from London to Dubai to Colombo, Sri Lanka. Through this event, the Canadian patrons hope to strengthen the Indian community around North America and form a bond not just with Indian cinema, but the entire nation to boost trade and political cooperation. IIFA Rocks 2011 successfully sold all 22,000 tickets in less than ten minutes, producing a success even Canadians were not expecting to turn out from a non-Asia based community. I hope that Boston also takes the initiative and hosts an IIFA Awards festival here.

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