Awards shows are Bollywood's big ticket

In Bollywood, awards shows are big business.

Next Friday's International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, being held in Bangkok this year, are just one of nearly a dozen gong shows associated with the Indian film industry.

The year begins with the Star Screen awards in January, followed by a six-month season that ends with the IIFAs. Along the way are several others, including the Filmfare awards, the industry's oldest honours show, instituted in 1954, the same year the Indian Government gave away the first set of National Film Awards.

The past 10 years have seen a new crop of shows, among them Stardust, Sansui, Zee Cine, Apsara, IIFA and the Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA). Among the newest is the AXN Action Awards, honouring action sequences in Hindi films.

"It's a demand and supply relationship. The award shows generate good billings for both sponsors and the creators, while viewers get to enjoy some access to celebrities," says Anupama Mandloi, Senior Creative Director, Star TV, which gives away the Star Screen awards in collaboration with Bollywood trade paper Screen.

In the past, it was the film magazines which awarded industry talent, until corporates stepped in a few years ago, tagging their companies' names to the word 'awards'. In the present scenario everyone from telecoms and TV channels to random groups comprising producers' wives has an award show going.

"As far as awards are concerned, we do not have any legitimate process or award function like the Oscars. All these awards are popular, and even if some actors say they do not believe in awards, after they get one, they can't stop thanking us and feeling proud of their achievements," says Ashwin Warde, Editorial Director of Stardust magazine, which runs its own show.

"For the audiences, it's three or four hours of entertainment. Once they had to wait months for a glimpse of their favourite star, now they can see the same star at various functions all at the same time on the many TV channels. So long as these shows are entertaining people and benefitting the stars and production houses, I don't think there's any problem in having them among us," he continues. Everyone associated with the shows is aiming for a little piece of the film industry, and the enormous money that comes with a star appearance at the event.

"The money comes in from quite a few sources: sponsors, the country where the event is organised, television rights, ticket sales and so on," says Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International, organisers of the IIFAs.

The easiest way organisers can recover their costs, of course, is to sell television rights, which can generate profits between 50 and 100 per cent.

Not that the shows are cheap to produce: the foreign locations, the imposing sets and the stars' performances fees all add to the production cost. According to industry insiders, one award function costs anywhere between Rs100 million (Dh8.6m) and Rs120 million. Host the event in another country, and offshore production and travel takes the number to Rs200 million.

Perhaps the largest cost is the talent. Each actor performing at such a show takes home Rs10 million to Rs15 million, which explains why we see even the top stars performing at these events. Anywhere up to half a million can be spent on sets alone, while travel and hotel costs for events outside India begin around Rs10 million.

Some of these costs are borne by the host country, especially if the event is big enough to garner global media attention. "We don't go to a country," says IIFA's Joseph. "Different countries pitch for the event and we select one among them as per the offer. The countries benefit with long-term tourism plus a short-term increase in business.

"But we take care of actors' costs; we fly them in and board them – and to ensure that our show stands out, we ensure that a large number attend. IIFA usually has at least four actors of every five nominees present at the function," he adds.

Differentiators such as these help an event stand out – and bring in more revenue. Often it's a theme that sets the show apart, explains Star's Mandloi. "The differentiator could be places the award show travels to, like IIFA is in Thailand this year. Even a base line which defines the content can be unique, as it is for Star Parivaar this year with Naye parivaar ki nayi lehar [which translates to, 'New families, new waves']. It could even be the fact that Star Screen awards are the first film awards in the year. These are usually distinctions, which help define the marketing pitch and to some extent the content."

But with so many trophies, does credibility go out of the window?

It certainly seems that way, especially when all the awards go to the same set of films at every ceremony held in one year. Of course, critics say the ones who take home the trophy are usually the ones who made the cash registers ring the loudest with their films or who are close to the editors of the magazines organising the events. Even the prestigious National Film Awards, usually seen as favouring more offbeat and arthouse fare, have begun to sing the same tune.

Trade analyst Atul Mohan, of the box-office magazine Complete Cinema, says this time of year sees frenetic bargaining and negotiations as the high and mighty of the Indian entertainment industry attempt to have their films awarded.

Just how far the public believes that, too, is borne out by a recent poll, says fellow Bollywood trade analyst Taran Adarsh. "In a recent poll looking at the credibility of awards among audiences, out of 1.2 million respondents polled, almost half of them felt that every award was arbitrary and unfair and that the reactions on television said it all. Around 40 per cent of people felt that the oldest, Filmfare, was fair while others polled even less," he told Emirates Business.

As you might expect, organisers of the awards shows disagree. "The awards provided are decided by the film industry and the people. Nominations are filed on the basis of our panel's decision, after which people vote for their favourites. The votes are tallied and accounted by the same company, which does it for the Oscars. So there is credibility. And we don't get to know who the winner is till the last moment," says IIFA's Joseph.

What to expect at IIFA 2008

The globetrotting International Indian FilmAcademy (IIFA) awards have zeroed in on Bangkok this year for a star-studded weekend event starting June 6. We raise the curtains on what you can catch (or not) at IIFA 2008.

Star-spotting After shunning all other awards ceremonies this year, the Bachchan family are expected to be in full attendance at this year's IIFA – and why not, with Amitabh Bachchan being the brand ambassador for the event.

Fans of Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Kareena Kapoor and Katrina Kaif can also rest easy, as all four stars are scheduled to perform on the night. However, the glamour quotient at IIFA 2008 seems to have dimmed a bit with Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Shahid Kapoor all refusing to attend. Aamir we understand – he routinely shuns award ceremonies – but what's the excuse for the other four?

Film showcase Director Ram Gopal Verma's much-awaited Sarkar Raj, starring Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan, will kick off the IIFA awards this year. However, what is an IIFA without a special film presentation? This year's choice is Lovestory 2050. Stars Priyanka Chopra and Harman Baweja will unveil the film's look and concept in a special ceremony.

The oomph factor This year's IIFA will feature a fashion extravaganza where prominent Indian and Thai designers will present their latest fashion lines. The fashion event will be hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar and will showcase designs by Sabyasachi, Rohit Bal, Manish Malhotra and Vikram Phadnis. Vidya Balan will walk the ramp for Sabyasachi, while Kareena Kapoor will don Manish Malhotra's designs yet again.

The cast of forthcoming film De Tali, namely Aftab Shivdasani, Riteish Deshmukh and Ayesha Takia will walk the ramp for Vikram Phadnis, while the Love Story 2050 couple will model Rohit Bal.

How do you get there? Catch a flight to Bangkok of course, and log onto ebay.com to bid for two front-row seats for the big event. The auction starts at $25,000 (Dh91,825). And if you can't make it, you can still catch the show on Star Plus on June 29. (Bindu Rai)

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