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Seoul to host Bollywood awards show

January 27, 2010 10:47 IST

Seoul (South Korea) will host the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in 2010.

'It is expected to draw hundreds of India's leading actors, actresses and filmmakers', according to South Korea's leading daily JoongAng Ilbo's English edition, JoongAng Daily.

Starting with London (United Kingdom) in 2000, these annual Awards events have been held in South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, People's Republic of China and are announced to be held in Canada (Toronto) in June 2011.

IIFA Awards are said to recognise, honour and celebrate the achievements of India's film industry. It claims to attract a worldwide television audience of over 350 million.

Seoul has been described by Lonely Planet as a "fashion-filled" city that "vibrates with energy night and day" and South Korea as "a country of endless possibilities".

Mumbai based IIFA endeavours to promote Indian cinema and showcase its talent globally. Its founder-directors are Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari, and Sabbas Joseph. Its Advisory Board boasts of big Bollywood names: Amitabh Bachchan (Brand Ambassador), David Dhawan, J.P. Dutta, Jaya Bachchan, Karan Johar, Manmohan Shetty, Pahlaj Nihalani, Ramesh Sippy, Shyam Shroff, and Vinod Khanna.

Image: Bipasha Basu at the 10th edition of the International Indian Film Academy in Macau, China.

Photograph: Siu Chiu/ Reuters

Source: ANI