KONG RITHDEE WORANUJ MANEERUNGSEE
It won't be a red carpet, but a green one. And it's not the Kodak Theatre, but Siam Niramit Theatre where the International Indian Film Academy will host its 2008 awards from June 6-8. The awards, the Indian cinema's most lavish ceremony, will be broadcast live around the world by the Star India satellite channel to a potential audience of 600 million viewers.
Among the guests will be the stars of Bollywood, including Indian superstar Abhishek Bachchan, the son of Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, who will show up at the event as a nominee for the best actor award.
The world premiere of the film Sarkar Raj, a political thriller, is expected to draw an epic crowd of onlookers due to the live appearances of the superstar dynasty who co-star in this movie: Mr Bachchan, his son and Aishwarya Rai, wife of Mr Abhishek, the former Miss World and one of India's best-known actresses.
Mr Bachchan, the brand ambassador for IIFA, said yesterday in Bangkok that the Thai capital was the right city, with the right infrastructure and the right kind of support from the government.
''Cinema can be a bridge between cultures, between nations. Cinema integrates people, and not divide them,'' said Mr Bachchan.
Weerasak Kowsurat, the Tourism and Sports Minister, said the staging of the IIFA awards in Bangkok would help boost the number of Indian visitors to Thailand, now at 550,000 per year.
''IIFA is a high-value movie event. The fact that the organisers have chosen Thailand as the venue means they trust in the country's potential in tourism and entertainment,'' he said.
Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Phornsiri Manoharn said Indian movies had their own unique distribution channel, which helped Thai tourism reach Indians living not only in India, but also overseas. As well, the event would encourage Indian film producers to shoot movies here.
In the past two years, Indian film directors shot about 30 films in Thailand, contributing US$20 million to the local economy.
At the same time, the country has been used as the setting for about 100 TV commercials, contributing about $7 million, according to Sabbas Joseph, director of Wizcraft International Entertainment, the company that initiated IIFA in 2000.
The concept, he said, was to internationalise Indian cinema by bringing the glittering spectacles of Bollywood to a foreign country every year.
Previous editions of IIFA were held in London, Yorkshire, Johannesburg, Sun City, Amsterdam, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
Organisers explained that the idea behind the Green Carpet, as opposed to the traditional red carpet used at awards galas, was aimed at creating awareness and tied to action on environmental concerns.
Local Indians, meanwhile, are expected to turn out in droves to see the actors and actresses from their mother country.
Jagan Lacsher, 35, an expatriate Indian raised in Australia, said he was excited to see Indian superstars from Bollywood in Bangkok.
Mr Lacsher, the executive assistant manager of the Novotel Hotel, said he and his family remained connected to Indian culture through Indian movies, like many immigrant Indians worldwide.
''Movies are a connection between Indians and their culture. I let my children watch Indian movies as they teach good values such as respect for the elderly,'' he said.
Mr Lacsher said the event would bring in a lot of Indian visitors to Thailand during the low season in the middle of the year, as Indians were obsessed with movies and adored their stars like icons.
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