Which is bigger? Hollywood or Bollywood? In terms of budget, publicity and revenues, Hollywood will win hands down. But in terms of popularity and reach, it is Bollywood that has taken a giant leap. This fact became clear at this year’s International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards week at Yorkshire, England which attracted nearly 30,000 people. Though a majority of them were Indians and Pakistanis living in the UK,  the normally reserved British people — media included — went berserk and there were large crowds wherever the Indian stars went during the four-day show.
One of the interesting sights was this tough looking, burly British police inspector James at the Indoor stadium in Sheffield, the venue of the grand finale, going after the stars for an autograph. “My children know so much about Indian cinema and they wanted me to get the autographs of as many stars as possible. I would have loved to bring them here but the entry tickets were exorbitantly priced (100, 200 and 300 pounds). I could not afford to spend so much money to get them in,” he said with a tinge of sadness.
Poor fellow, he has not visited India and seen how our policemen “manage” to “smuggle” in any number of their relatives inside any venues — be it a star nite, a rock show or a cricket match!          He was not an exception. Many like him can’t distinguish between Bipasha Basu and Lara Dutta. Nor have they seen any film starring Salman Khan. But they know these names were important — some sort of youth icons, like Princess Diana who seems to live in every Briton’s heart more than two decades after her death.
Bollywood has successfully broken boundaries. Prime Minister Tony Blair gladly agreed to act in a film along with Amitabh Bachchan to promote awareness on global warming. He is actually doing the role of the prime minister. “For ten years, I have been rehearsing for this role and now I am glad I have had this opportunity to act with your super star, and for a cause. This is an exciting opportunity for me,” he said proudly.
The very conservative University of Leeds came forward to confer honourary doctorate on three film personalities — Amitabh Bachchan, Shabana Azmi and Yash Chopra — as a tribute to Indian cinema. The ceremony, held in the nearly 100-year-old university auditorium, was conducted in all seriousness and in keeping with the tradition. Amitabh was also given the unique honour of renaming the hall as Mahatma Gandhi Hall.    
Yorkshire had actually beaten New York and Melbourne to host India’s equivalent of the Oscars — the IIFA Weekend.  According to Yorkshire Tourist Board chairman Judith Donovan, the arrival of Indian Cinema to this region is expected to boost tourism spend by over £9.5 million. The winning bid was jointly made by regional development agency Yorkshire Forward and Yorkshire Tourist Board.
Yorkshire, 200 miles north of London, is keen on inviting Indian film makers to shoot their films and is also home to many television and film companies in Britain. The region provides ideal locales — wild moorland, hills and dales, magnificently preserved stately homes, castles, fishing villages, ancient abbeys, windswept beaches and much more. It also has a skilled workforce to help in production and the region has excellent connectivity in terms of road, rail and air.
Through substantial media coverage to 315 million world-wide viewers, the IIFA is expected to boost international tourism as well. Today, many cities in the region regularly screen Indian movies. While in the year 2000, only about half a dozen Indian films were screened in cities like London and Leeds, last year the number of Indian films which hit the screens went up to 66. And, over half of them completed a 40 to 50 days-run. As the second largest market for Bollywood films, the whole of UK is also expected to benefit from hosting IIFA Awards .
Spread over four days, the IIFA Awards weekend had a Global Business Forum, a world premiere (The Train), fund-raising charity event (a cricket match at Headingly) and the awards ceremony. It also brought together different “factions” within the Hindi film industry — you could watch Abhishek Bachchan walk up to Salman Khan and wishing him, Amitabh and Dharmendra, the Jay-Veeru team of the blockbuster Sholay sharing the stage after nearly a decade, Member of Parliament Govinda shedding his inhibitions and going wild on stage and so on.
Out of the 30,000 fans who attended the event, there were quite a few from as far as Europe, US, India, and SE Asia through pre-booked packages. A recent study in India by the British Tourist Authority shows that a relatively unknown location used by an Indian blockbuster film saw an increase of 800 per cent in tourists to the area.
The only other European city which has hosted an IIFA in the past, Amsterdam (2005). attracted about 15,000 visitors to the city and reported a 50 per cent increase in tourism soon after the event.  The awards show at Sheffield was six-hour gala show. Glamourous costumes, catchy songs, high-voltage dances — the packed audience loved every minute of it.
The star of the show was of course Shilpa Shetty, who received a special award from the people of Yorkshire for the way she has conducted herself following the Celebrity Big Brother racism row. The award was presented to her by Yorkshire cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott, who has often expressed his admiration for this Karnataka-born actress.
Aishwarya Rai, whose 2005 film Provoked was shot in Scarborough Prison in Yorkshire, was present along with her husband, actor Abhishek but was clearly overshadowed by Shilpa Shetty. There were whispers that all the attention that Shilpa was getting did not go down well with the Amitabh clan (Amitabh, Abhishek and Aishwarya) who skipped the birthday party for Shilpa.
The stars donned designer wear as usual. Former India skipper Azharuddin was a hot favourite with the media and he walked in with Sangita Bijlani — the Lady in Red.
Of course, there was none to beat the sultry siren Bipasha Basu who came in a cut-out red frock, while Aishwarya Rai was more sober in a baby-pink, diamond-studded sari.
Others included Best newcomer award-winner actress Katrina Kaif who wore a floor-length Gabanna gold gown.
The function went off smoothly, thanks to excellent cameo act by Bomman Irani who made up for the dull compering by Lara Dutta. Bomman was in his element — and appeared in different roles — James Bond, a Scottish singer, a Buckingham Palace guard, and Raj Kapoor’s Joker.
Unpleasantries
Though there was a show of unity amongst the bigwigs of Bollywood, one could feel an undercurrent of tension and even anger. A direct fall-out of the much talked about event of the year, the Abhi-Ash wedding, is that the film industry is now vertically divided into two camps — pro-Amitabh and anti-Amitabh. In short, it meant those who were invited for the wedding versus those who were left out.
The division came out loud and clear with Amitabh, his son and daughter-in-law staying some 30 km away from Leeds where the other stars were put up. And, they stuck together — be it at the inaugural function in the historic town hall, or at University where the Big B got his doctorate (no other stars came for this function), or the cricket match at Headingly — there was little interaction between the two groups.
The spotlight in the other group was always on Salman Khan. In the absence of the other Khan, Shah Rukh who stayed away this year also as in Dubai last year, it was left to Salman to steal the show. And he did it with a vengeance with poor Abhishek left high and dry.
At the cricket match, the moment Salman entered the ground and went into the middle for the toss, “AAA” family quickly left the galleries and vanished from the scene. Salman made full use of the opportunity, went round the stadium, mingled with the crowds and spoke freely to the Indian media. He also and pulled off a coup of sorts by organising a mega bash in his hotel room the same evening when Shilpa’s birthday bash was being organised in another hotel by the organisers.
The veteran Dharmendra also did not miss the opportunity to have a dig at Amitabh when he said “ My sons and I do know how to stay on the centrestage and so we have been left behind.” He cleverly used the stage on the day of the awards, called his sons and went on an emotional trip down the memory lane, leaving Amitabh watching it from the sidelines. It was Dharam at his garamy best.
Unlike the earlier IIFAs, Jaya Bachchan was nowhere to be seen and it was left to Amitabh to play a solo game — with both his son and daughter-in-law too engrossed in each other. He did try his best, being the Brand Ambassador of IIFA but one could clearly see him weighed down by many issues back home. With Mayawati breathing down his neck, and friends Mulayam and Amar Singh playing their own political games, Bachchan stayed at a safe distance away from the media.
Yet, IIFA today has gone global mainly because of him. The last seven IIFAs have been great hits because of his presence and initiatives. It will be a pity if, because of domestic problems, IIFA loses the most well known face of Indian cinema, Big B. For, very few can match his stature, diplomacy, courtesy and concern for issues like global warming.