America gears up for the 15th IIFA Weekend and Awards 2014 in Tampa Bay

-         Saif to host the IIFA Magic of the Movies & Technical Awards

-         Tata Motors IIFA Awards performers to include Hrithik Roshan, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Priyanka Chopra, Ranveer Singh and others…

As we draw closer to the 15^th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend & Awards in Tampa Bay, Florida, the Academy held a press conference on the lawns of the U.S. Consulate in Mumbai, today. Friends of IIFA, members from the film fraternity were present today along with U.S. Ambassador Peter Haas, and the Tampa Bay delegation to show their support for the upcoming celebrations in the United States of America. The 15^th Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend and the Tata Motors IIFA Awards will be held from the 23^rd – 26^th of April.

Actors Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Bipasha Basu and music director Pritam were on hand to announce the details of the Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend. Leading the delegation from Tampa were Mayor of Tampa Bay – Bob Buckhorn, Hillsborough County Commissioner - Al Higginbotham and Santiago Corrada, President and Chief Executive Officer of Visit Tampa Bay and the IIFA hosts from Tampa Bay, Dr. Kiran Patel and Dr. (Mrs.) Pallavi Patel.  

Peter Haas, U.S. Consul General in Mumbai said, “I’m excited by IIFA’s decision to hold this year’s awards ceremony in Tampa, Florida.  Bollywood fans across the United States will be thrilled that India’s biggest film stars are coming.  We look forward to other Indian companies choosing the United States as their travel destination and stand ready to assist.”

The 15^th edition of the Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend in April 2014 is set to include multiple star-studded events including the IIFA Rocks (a fashion and music spectacular), the IIFA Magic of the Movies & Technical Awards, and the crown jewel Tata Motors IIFA Awards. 

 The Tata Motors IIFA Awards will be hosted by Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar. The first set of star performers at the Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend include Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit Nene, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha, Bipasha Basu, Pritam and Vir Das among others. The performances would be choreographed by the internationally-renowned Shiamak Davar. More stars would be announced in the next few weeks.

The sale of tickets for the Tata Motors IIFA Awards has been brisk with more than 15000 tickets being already sold without any announcement of performing stars. The response from the audience is phenomenal and the Indian contingent is looking forward to the first-ever IIFA Celebrations in America.

Business events include the FICCI-IIFA Global Business Forum which focuses on business opportunities across the two geographies, the Global Leadership Honours and a Media and Entertainment Strategy Summit led by Ernst & Young and FICCI's Entertainment division.

The FICCI IIFA Global Business Forum will take place over two days (24^th & 25^th April) at the Tampa Convention Center. Hosted by the University of South Florida College of Business, the business forum will be addressed by several leading visionaries and business leaders including Indian IT visionary, founder and Executive Chairman of Infosys, Mr. Narayan Murthy and FICCI President Siddharth Birla. The business forum’s verticals will focus on renewable energy, pharma, healthcare & life sciences, tourism, IT and cyber security, infrastructure, education and higher education.

For the first time this year, the IIFA EXPO comprising a B2C showcase of businesses from India and US would be on view. The focus areas are property, wellness and tranquility, jewelry, banking, tourism, bridal wear, clothing, handicrafts and artifacts.

Additional unique events include an IIFA Masterclass with an international actor and IIFA Stomp which is a celebration by the Tampa Bay community to welcome IIFA on April 23^rd - a unique celebration of Indian music, dance and cuisine in the Curtis Hixon Waterfont Park in Tampa. This open for general public event, will feature popular DJs led by Ravi Drums and Akbar Sami.

Long time friend & supporter of IIFA, International Actor, Anil Kapoor said “There is nothing as unique as Bollywood, and Tampa is in for a treat this year! The IIFAs are a great platform for us to showcase our work to the world. This April, IIFA will bring the magic of Indian Cinema to America.”

Speaking on her years in the US, Madhuri Dixit Nene said, “Very few know that I lived in Florida for a while. I have been to Tampa Bay and I can tell you honestly it is a beautiful city and the people there are warm and welcoming. Thank you for hosting us. We are gonna rock.”

Saif Ali Khan commented saying, “It’s always amazing to give our Indian and international audience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness one of the finest celebrations of Indian culture and cinema. IIFA is really going to rock this year!”

Mr. Ranjit Yadav, President, Passenger Vehicles, Tata Motors said, “After an exciting debut last year, Tata Motors is again joining hands with IIFA to delight their global audiences. With our newly showcased, next-generation cars - the Zest and the Bolt, at the recent Auto Expo 2014, we also have some new emerging superstars to add to the excitement. Engineered for global markets, through global teams across India, UK and Korea, these cars will set new standards in their respective segments just like the IIFA Awards. These cars are a true representation of our Horizonext philosophy, with best-in-class offerings and will showcase the Next in Design, Performance and Infotainment. We will bring many more such exciting best-in-class offerings and we hope to receive your support in our journey, in the Future".

Kareena Kapoor Khan said, “There is a great pride when representing your country and the Indian film industry, and IIFA makes that possible for all us. I am excited to reach out to our fans and Indian Cinema aficionados in the USA and across the world. I’m sure IIFA 2014 is going to be a phenomenal success as it ventures into USA.”

Mr. Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International & IIFA said, “In our 15th year, IIFA continues to build bridges through cinema across communities throughout the world. We are determined to bring the magic and magnitude of Indian culture as Tampa Bay is set to witness the spectacle that is Indian cinema, when IIFA comes to the US, this April.”

Bipasha Basu said, “Over the years, I have been privileged to have been a part of and performed at several IIFAs and have watched them grow from strength to strength. It is commendable that IIFA continues to be a magnificent celebration of Indian Cinema and IIFA’s efforts to promote Indian Cinema on a global scale are really praiseworthy. As an ambassador of Cinema, I whole-heartedly support this noble endeavor and will continue to do so. It would be fun to be in North America this year, because with a huge number of Bollywood fans in the country, it will only be a remarkable celebration."

At the onset of IIFA 2014, Videocon announced the launch of Videocon 4K 4 IIFA Facebook contest where the users can participate, play and win a chance to experience IIFA in Tampa Bay, US. Mr. Anirudh Dhoot – Director, Videocon Group stated, “In our 6th year of successful association, Videocon d2h along with IIFA, shares a similar outlook of promoting excellence in entertainment. The focus of both IIFA and Videocon d2h is adding variety and value in its entertainment quotient.  Videocon d2h which is now Asia’s Most Promising DTH brand strives to provide the best viewing experience in Asli HD through its DTH services and now reaches more than 10 million homes. We provide a very good platform for IIFA as well to reach out to this discerning audience.”

Gaurav Banerjee, General Manager, Star Plus said, “We are proud to partner Wizcraft for over the last ten years in the biggest celebration of Indian Cinema with the IIFA weekend. This year with Tampa Bay as the host, a fantastic line up of talent and support from the industry, we promise to create a blockbuster evening reaching IIFA to millions of households worldwide through Star Plus.”

Having travelled to some phenomenal destinations across the globe over the last 15 years, IIFA has graced the shores of the UK, Europe, Middle East, South East Asia, South Africa, Sri Lanka Amsterdam and Canada. Fans and enthusiasts of Indian Cinema from around the world can expect to see their favorite stars descend into Tampa, Florida during the weekend and witness Indian Cinema's most glorious event unfold for the first time in America. With world-class infrastructure and facilities and having hosted a myriad of international concerts, events and the Super Bowl four times, Tampa Bay is the ideal choice for the 15th IIFA celebrations.

The Videocon D2H IIFA Weekend is presented by Videocon D2H and the Tata Motors IIFA Awards is presented by Tata Motors. The IIFA Weekend &Awards will be broadcast globally on Star Plus, for the 10th year running.

Jackky Bhagnani and Neha Sharma on Boogie Woogie

 

The upcoming episode of Boogie Woogie will be a dhamakedar episode as the ace dancer and actor Jackky Bhagnani along with his lovely co-actor Neha Sharma makes an appearance promote their upcoming film ‘Youngistaan’. 

 

The episode will witness some marvellous performances that will leave the judges and guests enthralled. Jackky will also be awestruck by Aryan's Tandav act that he will get up from his seat and salute him and also congratulate him for his brilliant dance. Later, the judges will also declare his act as the best performance of Boogie Woogie in 17 years.

 

Apart from the scintillating performances, the actors will be seen having gala time with the little dancing wonders. Neha will learn a few Bharatnatyam moves from Sagar and shake a leg with Bebechana on the song Aunti Ji, while Jackky will surprise everyone when he shows some cool moves on stage with Sachin and Priyanka.

So get ready to witness some scintillating performances of Boogie Woogie this Saturday, 22^nd February 2014 at 8:30 pmonly on Sony Entertainment Television

Movie Integration of Daar @ the Mall in Sony TV's CID

 

The thriller will get twofold when the cast of the upcoming flick Daar @ the mall will be seen in a special episode of Sony Entertainment Television’s longest running crime-thriller show CID.

CID, known for its edge of the seat thriller episodes is all set to give its audiences a spine thrilling episode. The episode will feature the talented actor Jimmy Shergill with none other than our favourite CID Cops!

Talking about his experience on working with the most loved television cops, Jimmy said, “It was a great experience to shoot a special episode with CID team. I think there is no bigger platform than CID to promote a movie. It’s going to be a very interesting episode webbed with thriller and entertainment.”

The case in hand revolves around a mysterious murder committed in a horror house of an amusement park. Together Jimmy with CID team will leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of this cryptic case and discover the culprit. While walking through the horror themed maze,  a sudden shot leads Jimmy and few kids separated from each other. In the hunt to find the kids, Jimmy discovers a body in the horror house and to his shock it appears to him mummified! CID comes to the rescue to solve this mystifying case and upon investigation CID cops identify the body and confirm that the corpse found by Jimmy was indeed mummified!! They also realize that a kid named Rahul who was accompanying Jimmy is missing. But the question arises, how can a body of person who was alive 10 days ago get mummified- a process that takes at least 70 days??

What is the mystery behind the mummified body? Was there some kind of connection between Rahul and the mummified victim?

To catch this special episode tune in to CID this Friday 21st February at 10pm only on Sony Entertainment Television.

Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap cast says NO to smoking!

 

It seems the cast and crew of Sony Entertainment Television’s historical saga Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap is up for a good cause! The Director of the show has discovered a unique way of maintaining a

 a hale and hearty working environment on the sets. We all know that the sets has now become the first home for everyone as most of them are living out of the MRP sets. The cast of Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana Pratap have devised a no-smoking club. Every time someone is caught smoking he or she has to pay a minimum fine of Rs.500. From the money which is collected from this fine, the team buys eateries for everyone and parties. This happens once every week and everyone’s efforts are celebrated.

Well isn’t that’s a unique way for caring about your co-stars, bravo for the cast and crew of this show!

MAURITIUS PRESIDENT INAUGURATES KERALA AYURVEDA SPECIALITY HOSPITAL IN BHIWANDI NEAR MUMBAI

Kerala Ayurveda Speciality Hospital, at Kalyan Road, Bhiwandi near Mumbai is a long awaited Dream Project of Shri Jitendrabhai Shah, Chairman & Managing Director of Heena Tours & Travel. His dream is come true today with the Inauguration of this Project by His. Excellency Mrs & Mr Rajkeswur Purryag, GCSK, GOSK, President of the Republic of Mauritius.

“Kerala Ayurveda Speciality Hospital” has been spread over 13,000 square feet consisting of 2 floors.It will have, apart from 30 ac – non ac beds, 6 pancha karma theaters, 2 beauty therapy rooms, yoga hall, full-fledged pharmacy for all kerala Ayurveda medicine and consultation faculties of different specialties. 

Seeing the hi-tech herbal hospital with state of the art technologies with all amenities, the Honourable President told, "I would like to invite Mr. Jitubhai along with his team to Mauritius for establishing such healthcare centres."

Shri Jitendrabhai Shah is a pioneer in the field of Travel & Tourism. His vision of bringing this Dream Project near Mumbai would attract tremendously Medical Tourism. His future dreams are of establishing medical tourism in many parts of the country would definitely boost Indian economy.
Kerala known as God's own country is well-known for its Ayurveda Therapies across the Globe. On  this occasion, Shri Jitendrabhai Shah quoted, " We have got alliances with Kerala's most oldest Ayurvedic Hospital, "Dhanwantari Vaidyasala" established in 1933 for all technical know-how". Also, he quoted, "He has alliances with Sudarshanam Netra Chikilsalayam - famous for curing eyes without surgeries."
Also, speaking on this occasion, Shri Jitendrabhai Shah told the media that he would create more employment opportunities here by running Panchkarma Training Courses.