Kumar Shyam

A gamut of Bollywood stars descended on the Yas Island in Abu Dhabi where Etihad Arena will host the 22nd IIFA Awards and the buzzword on the eve of it was ‘celebration’.

Led by Salman Khan and organised by Wizcraft along with Watermelon as their local partners, the International Indian Film Academy Awards makes its debut in UAE. In keeping with the international feel of the event, journalists from 30 countries were present on invitation at the press conference to give out details on what to expect over the course of the next two days.

Despite the sad death of singer KK three days back, every star or singer present in the room at Etihad Arena on Thursday said they were looking forward to the event for various reasons.

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After trying to pretend he was bored with the speeches, Khan said he was “happy to be here in Abu Dhabi, one of my favourite destinations personally. And IIFA has been like a family.”

Salman also had a bit of banter on stage and off-stage. When Honey Singh and Divya Khosla Kumar tried to present their song ‘Designer’ and the emcee Sidharth Kannan just threw a random question of any future collaboration, Singh said he already had a song ready. Khan chimed in from the front row that “there will be billion views for it” and that was cue enough for Singh to voice out couple of lines for an impromptu jig.

Nerves and anxiety

When all the stars took the stage in lots, each was asked what can fans expect from Saturday’s main event – to be hosted by Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh and Manish Paul while Farah Khan and Aparshakti Khurrana will host the IIFA Rocks, for the music awards, on Friday.

Deshmukh said he was nervous and will look for support from Salman who immediately quipped in Hindi, “Mein khud Allah ke bharose hoon [I am at the mercy of Allah myself]. To which Paul said he was about to say he was a small fry and was expecting the two to lend support.

Also nervous was Shahid Kapoor, who revealed that he will be dancing to the songs of Bappi Lahiri, who died in his sleep earlier this year. “I was a big fan and I am also nervous because it has been a long, long time. People think I am a dancer … but I haven’t actually done it [dance live on stage] for six years! But it’s exciting to be back at live functions and meeting people in person.”

Every one echoed that the IIFA Abu Dhabi, being one of the first awards function to be in-person after three years of disruption due to the pandemic, has everyone looking forward to it.

Mohamed Abdalla Al Zaabi, CEO of IIFA hosts Miral, impressed everyone by starting his address in Hindi. Wizcraft

That included Sara Ali Khan in crimson red attire, Ananya Panday in bright yellow, Tiger Shroff matching Kapoor in light shades of blue and Nora Fatehi in a greenish-brown sobering dress.

Initially Karan Johar was to host the event but the later dropped out when the IIFA had to deferred with the death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Yet, Farah and Khurrana handled questions like a well-gelled unit of professionals and broke into one-liners and jokes naturally during an interaction with the media. Farah also revealed that “two years went off peacefully at home, spending time with the family, but I am getting that itch to make a film again.” Her last direction was in 2014 with Happy New Year.

Asked who was the boss among the two, given the fact that it was Khurrana who hosted the previous IIFA edition, both pointed at each other. Farah stated the obvious of IIFA being on Khurrana’s CV and the latter admitted, but added: “Yes I did conduct it with bhaiya [brother Ayushmann], but she has so many years of experience being on stage, and that matters a lot.”

Asked if the duo were nervous, both said they were well-prepared but they would be if the jokes do not land as they are hoping for.

The married couple of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai will also be among other stars to be spotted at the Etihad Arena.

Weekend schedule

IIFA Rocks

Hosts: Farah Khan Kunder & Aparshakti Khurana
Performers: Devi Sri Prasad, Tanishk Bagchi, Guru Randhawa, Honey Singh, Neha Kakkar, Dhvani Bhanushali, Zahrah S Khan, Dhvani Bhanushali, Asees Kaur

IIFA Awards

Hosts: Salman Khan, Riteish Deshmukh & Maniesh Paul

Performers: Shahid Kapoor, Tiger Shroff, Kartik Aaryan, Sara Ali Khan, Ananya Panday, Divya Khosla Kumar and Nora Fatehi.