Salman Khan, Priyanka lead 150 Bollywood celebs to Dubai

Salman Khan, Priyanka and Parineeti Chopra, along with 150 of Bollywood’s glitterati will land on Dubai’s doorstep next month, as the city rolls out the ‘gold carpet’ for the first Arab Indo Bollywood Awards (Aiba) weekend next month.

The awards ceremony, being touted as the most ‘honest’ Bollywood awards, will be held at the Meydan Racecourse on April 9, co-hosted by director-producer and soon to make his acting debut, Karan Johar.

Joining him as the host of the night will be actor and television star, Manish Paul.

The celebrity list doesn’t end here though, as organisers Benchmark, in association with Adplay and Al Bustan Group, have also announced top names, including Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Dhawan, Neha Dhupia, Kanika Kapoor and Meet Brothers; all of whom will be performing on the night, along with Salman Khan the two Chopra sisters.

A special pre-event roadshow will be held a day earlier, while a celebrity packed after-party is scheduled for April 10, say organisers.

Not just another awards show...

The award categories are being touted as a medium to promote the best in the field of acting, direction, music, choreography and scripting.

Featuring over four hours of celeb-interaction, Aiba jury chairperson and noted filmmaker, Tigmanshu Dhulia told Emirates 24|7 in chat earlier the idea behind this night was not to host yet another Bollywood awards show to add to the multitude of marketed song and dance shows that India produces annually.

The actor/director/writer and a winner of the Indian National Award for Best Film Director for his cult creation, ‘Paan Singh Tomar’, Dhulia said: “The idea was to create a collaboration between Arab and Indian audiences, which has historically shared a common love for cinema, but most importantly, it was also imperative that as filmmakers, we had an awards platform that did away with the politicking of trophies to allow the emergence of small-budget but good quality cinema.”

The eight-member Aiba jury includes actor/director/producer Arbaaz Khan, Goldie Behl, Sreedhar Raghavan, Javed Jaffery, Shyam Shroll and Bollywood trade analyst Komal Nahta, which has shortlisted films released between January-December 2014 across three categories and 25 awards.

Dulhia further explained: “The 25 trophies will be split across the categories of Main, Technical and Special Awards, which will be chosen 50 per cent by the jury members, while the remaining half will be voted by residents of the UAE, either online or via 100 ballot boxes that will be placed around the country.”

Public voting has already commenced across 100 UAE Exchange outlets.

Entertainment company Cineyug, under the leadership of the Moranis, will be producing the event.

Tickets for the night are priced at Dh300, Dh500, Dh800, Dh1,500 and Dh5,000 for sitting in the Star Enclave (only 600 tickets and Couple Entry). 

And the nominations are...

Best Film

Haider

Queen

PK

Ankhon Dekhi

Two States

Filmistan

Best Actor

Shahid Kapoor – Haider

Salman Khan – Kick

Aamir Khan – PK

Varun Dhawan – Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania

Sanjay Mishra – Ankhon Dekhi

Best Actress

Kangana Ranaut – Queen

Priyanka Chopra – Mary Kom

Parineeti Chopra – Hasee Toh Phasee

Deepika Padukone – Finding Fanny

Alia Bhatt – 2 States

Best Director

Rajat Kapoor – Ankhon Dekhi

Rajkumar Hirani – PK

Vikas Bahl – Queen

Vishal Bharadwaj – Haider

Abhishek Verman – 2 States

Best Screenplay

Haider

Holiday

2 States

Filmistan

Ankhhon Dekhi

Hasee Toh Phasee

Best Dialogue

PK

Queen

Kick

Haider

4 Sahabzaade

Best Story

Vikas Bhal, Chaitallya Parmar, Parvez Sheikh – Queen

Chetan Bhagat – 2 States

Abhijit Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani – PK

Rajat Kapoor – Ankhon Dekhi

Rajkumar Singh, Chandraprakash Nivedi – Zed Plus

Harshwardhan – Hasee Toh Phasee

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