TORONTO - Epic and energized but also agonizingly late and overlong, the 12th annual International Indian Film Academy awards for Hindi-language films came to Canada for the first time on Saturday night ... and more than two hours into Sunday.
By the time that the assembled Bollywood royalty had danced, sang, talked, paid tribute in an endless cycle of career awards and indulged two comics in dozens of low-brow skits, many people had already had more than enough. The throng of 40,000 that took their seats in the Rogers Centre at 7 p.m. had thinned out in a swirl of saris up the aisles.
But there were still thousands left to cheer the popular action film Dabangg when it won as best film. It pushed aside the even more popular My Name is Khan, the highest grossing Indian film of 2010 both in India and internationally. Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding Jr. was part of the best picture presentation team. He proclaimed his love for Bollywood cinema, said he would be happy to star in one and then did a fabulous hip hop version of a Bollywood dance move while the Rogers Centre erupted in cheers.
If Dabangg staged an upset, it was no problem for My Name is Khan. The acclaimed film won its share on the night, none more explosive with the audience than the best actor prize for Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan. He was also one of several co-hosts for the gala awards and his every move, joke, jibe and serious comment generated screams and applause. Part of his presentation team was another Oscar winner, Hilary Swank, whom Khan praised lavishly. “Hilary had me at ‘namaste’,” Khan said sweetly of Swank’s initial Hindi-language greeting to the audience.
So the joint went wild with his best actor win and Khan — also known as King Khan — even came back after the Dabangg upset in the best picture category to headline a dance extravaganza. It was the spectacle that capped off the long night. Given that Khan has a fractured kneecap, he showed classic showbiz moxy to dance at all, although he admitted on stage he had to tone it down. But he showed no pain, no limp and never complained, instead exhorting the audience to get up and dance for him at their seats.
My Name is Khan — the story of a Muslim Indian family which faces racial profiling and prejudice in the U.S. after 9/11 — also earned Karan Johan (another co-host) the award as best director. His emotional acceptance speech underscored the theme of the IIFA awards night: “One night .. one world ... one mega celebration.” My Name is Khan is a film about healing and overcoming racial and religious prejudices and differences.
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The best Actress prize went to Anushka Sharma, co-star of the more light-hearted Band Baaja Baaraat, a romantic comedy set amid wedding planning chaos. Sound familiar? Bollywood movies freely borrow Hollwyood plots for their own musicals, while Bollywood movies in turn influence international filmmakers. Australian Baz Lurhmann credits Bollywood for inspiring him on Moulin Rouge!, his own musical epic.
Sharma was also a popular choice. No surprise. She had already been voted one half of the Hottest Couple by the Indian diaspora, sharing the award with her Band Baaja Baaraat co-star Ranveer Singh. He also did double duty, winning the award for best debut male. “Ladies and gentlemen, I promise you, this is just the beginning,” the brash and obviously charming told his adoring crowd as young ladies threw him verbal love bouquets from the seats behind home plate at the Rogers Centre. Singh is a break-out star with his second film, Ladies vs Ricky Bah, set for release in December.
Singh and Sharma also were “challenged” by filmmaker co-host Johan to indulge in a dance-off and, while Sharma performed well and looked great doing it, Singh was dynamic. This kid could one day challenge Shah Rukh Khan for superstar status and might have an international career brewing at some point, too.
On the downside of the IIFA extravaganza, former Miss Universe, model and actress Priyanka Chopra did a series of Bollywood-style song-and-dance routines. She can’t dance worth a lick, and there were plenty of comparison with great performers on stage all night. Her lip-syncing to someone else’s singing was obviously phony. And earlier, in one of the night’s most awkward moments, she did not bother to show up on stage to personally accept her Green Globe Award for her environmental campaigns. Instead, she saved her on-stage debut for the song-and-dance numbers, which makes her priorities just a tad wonky. She looks frivolous, not committed. But she does have the face to serve as a representative of some public campaign for something.
Meanwhile, the entire night was a love-in for Toronto as the IIFA host. This is the first time in its 12 years that Wizcraft International Entertainment, the producers of the awards, went outside of Europe, Africa and Asia. That they chose Toronto — the hub of a huge South Asian population in southern Ontario — obviously paid off. For both sides.
Dozens of co-hosts, presenters and winners expressed their love and admiration to Toronto, Ontario and Canada for showing such warmth to the Bollywood folk, both on-stage and behind-the-scenes over the past few days. IIFA, in return, played politics. In an unusual move, beleaguered Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was invited to be part of the presentation team for the best picture award. He looked stiff and out-of-place but did the job.
In the end, the IIFA awards helped raise Toronto’s profile in some way, given than an estimated 700 million have or will see parts of the awards on television around the world. That said, most of the ceremonies were in the Hindi language, with a sprinkling of English thrown in — just like in many Bollywood movies. That will limit the global appeal in terms of the cross-over possibilities for the awards.
By night’s end in the early hours of Sunday, Dabangg won seven International Indian Film Academy awards and My Name is Khan was second with four. Band Baaj Baaraat had three (two that won on the night, the third the Hottest Couple prize, which had been announced earlier after the public vote). Four other films had one award each. The full list:
BEST FILM: Dabangg
BEST DIRECTOR: Karan Johar, My Name Is Khan
BEST ACTOR: Shah Rukh Khan, My Name is Khan
BEST ACTRESS: Anushka Sharma, Band Baaja Baaraat
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Arjun Rampal, Raajneeti
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Prachi Desai, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A NEGATIVE ROLE: Sonu Sood, Dabangg
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A COMIC ROLE: Riteish Deshmukh, Housefull
BEST DEBUT MALE: Ranveer Singh, Band Baaj Baaraat
BEST DEBUT FEMALE: Sonakshi Sinha, Dabangg
HOTTEST COUPLE: Ranveer Singh & Anushka Sharma, Band Baaj Baaraat
BEST SCREENPLAY: Dilip Shukla & Abhinav Kashyap, Dabangg
BEST STORY: Shibani Bhatija, My Name Is Khan
BEST DIALOGUE: Vishal Bhardwaj, Ishqiya
BEST MUSIC DIRECTION: Sajid–Wajid & Lalit Pandit, Dabangg
BEST LYRICS: Niranjan Iyengar, My Name Is Khan
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER, MALE: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Dabangg
BEST PLAYBACK SINGER, FEMALE: Mamta Sharma, Dabangg
GREEN GLOBE AWARD: Priyanka Chopra
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