IIFA awards to be held in Singapore this year

The International Indian Film Academy announced today that the 13th IIFA Weekend and Awards will be held in Singapore from June 7 to 9 this year.

This is the second time that IIFA will be held in the Lion City, after 2004. The Bollywood extravaganza has travelled to China, Europe, the Middle East, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Canada over the last 12 years.

Supported by the Singapore Tourism Board, the IIFA celebrations were heralded in Singapore today by actors Anil Kapoor and Bipasha Basu.

"I am associated with IIFA for a few years now. The attempt is to make the awards the best every year. Being here it becomes easier to hold the awards as the government is supportive and systematic," Anil told PTI over the phone from Singapore.

"The people here are very enthusiastic about Indian cinema. They are looking forward to it. This year IIFA should be bigger and better," he added.

The 52-year-old actor will be involved with the activities at the IIFA weekend this year and has squeezed in time to announce the awards between filming Race 2 in Turkey and promoting his upcoming film Tezz in India.

"IIFA is a wholesome experience. It is a combination of a film festival and an awards show. IIFA is growing from strength to strength," said Anil.

Every year IIFA has some of the biggest names in Bollywood coming under one roof to celebrate Indian cinema.

The three-day programme includes the world premiere of a film, a musical show IIFA Rocks and celebs walking down the IIFA green carpet before the much-anticipated awards night.

The IIFA 2012 is presented by Videocon Industries and Wizcraft International Entertainment.