Amitabh Bachchan no longer IIFA brand ambassador

Amitabh Bachchan no longer IIFA brand ambassador  

Mumbai, Jan 17 (IANS) Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has been the brand ambassador of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards since their inception in 2000, will no longer perform the role - and the concept itself has been dropped.

"Due to unexplainable reasons, after announcing the event, Mr. Bachchan couldn't participate in the IIFA Weekend in Sri Lanka last year. Following this, IIFA aborted the concept of a Brand Ambassador," Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft entertainment that organizes the event, said in a statement.

"Keeping in mind the huge respect that Wizcraft and IIFA have for Mr. Bachchan and the deep relationship that we've always shared, we are not having anyone replace Mr. Bachchan.

"The Bachchan family has been an intrinsic part of IIFA every year, and in this regard we have already shared with them a proposal about their participation this year too. Mr Bachchan's reason for non-participation is best known to him. IIFA and Mr.Bachchan are inseparable. We will continue to pursue his participation for this year too," Joseph said.

However, there could be more to this than meets the eye as Amitabh confirmed the parting of ways on his Twitter account but put the onus on the IIFA.

"Not coming to Toronto IIFA...IIFA says my services are not required," he Tweeted.

आईफा ने अमिताभ बच्चन से किया किनारा !

आईफा ने अमिताभ से किया किनारा ! 

मुंबई। बॉलीवुड शहंशाह अमिताभ बच्चन इस बार मशहूर आइफा अवार्ड में नजर नहीं आएंगे। खबर है कि आईफा अवार्ड की पहचान बन चुके बॉलीवुड के शहंशाह अमिताभ बच्चन का दस साल पुराना रिश्ता टूट गया है। यही नहीं अमिताभ अब आईफा के ब्रांड एंबेसडर भी नहीं रहे हैं। खुद अमिताभ ने यह चौंकाने वाला खुलासा किया है। हालांकि, इन सबके पीछे की वजह साफ नहीं हो पाई है। उल्लेखनीय है कि इस साल टोरंटो में 23 से 25 जून तक आईफा अवार्ड का आयोजन होना है पर बिग बी इसमें शिरकत नहीं करेंगे।

बिग बी ने टि्वटर पर खुलासा किया है कि "इस बार वह टोरंटो आईफा में नहीं जा रहे हैं। आइफा का कहना है कि उन्हें मेरी जरूरत नहीं है।" वर्ष 2000 से शुरू हुए आईफा अवार्ड में अमिताभ ने हर साल हिस्सा लेते आए थे। उनकी पूरी फैमिली बीवी जया बच्चन, बेटा अभिषेक बच्चन और बहू ऎश्वर्य राय भी अवार्ड में हिस्सा लेते थे पर पिछले साल से आईफा और उनके बीच दूरियां बढ़ीं तो फिर खत्म नहीं हुई।

अमिताभ ने कहा कि "वहां न जाने का कारण मैं नहीं हूं बल्कि खुद आईफा है। आईफा के आयोजक नहीं चाहते कि मैं टोरंटो जाऊं। श्रीलंका में भी पिछले साल हुए समारोह में भी ऎसा ही था।" ज्ञात हो पिछले साल हुए अवार्ड समारोह में भी अमिताभ ने हिस्सा नहीं लिया था। 

अमिताभ का यह खुलासा बेहद चौंकाने वाला है क्योंकि देखा जाए तो वह एकेडमी की वेबसाइट पर अभी भी आईफा के ब्रांड एंबेसडर की लिस्ट में शामिल हैं, साथ ही आईफा के एडवाइजरी बोर्ड के सदस्य भी हैं। हालांकि, आईफा की ओर से इस बारे में कोई प्रतिक्रिया नहीं मिली है।

Making Of Dabboo Ratnani Calendar 2011 With Amitabh Bachchan

Making Of Dabboo Ratnani Calendar 2011 With Amitabh Bachchan

Making Of Dabboo Ratnani Calendar 2011 With Amitabh Bachchan 

Superstar Amitabh Bachchan poses in a saloon set-up for Dabboo Ratnani's 2011 calendar photo-shoot. Check it out.

Mega Star Amitabh with Aishwarya Rai Bachan at 6th Apsara Awards 2011

Mega Star Amitabh Bachan along with Aishwarya Rai Bachan who received a special award at the 6th Chevrolet Apsara awards ceremony,in Mumbai.

Salman's ' Dabangg ' sweeps Apsara Awards 

Mumbai, Jan 12 (IANS) Actor Salman Khan's blockbuster entertainer "Dabangg" made it's presence felt at the Chevrolet Apsara Awards Tuesday night by baggingEIGHT awards in different categories. 

The film that has been produced by Arbaaz Khan and directed by Abhinav Kashyap laid its hands on trophies for categories like best film, best actor (Salman Khan), best female singer (Mamta Sharma), best performance in negative role (Sonu Sood), best female debut (Sonakshi Sinha), best music (Sajid-Wajid), best dialogues (Abhinav Kashyap) and best male singer (Rahat Fateh Ali Khan). 

The glitzy night that witnessed power-packed performances by Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Govinda and Anushka Sharma was attended by many Bollywood celebrities likeDharmendra, Rani Mukerji, Sunny Deol, Karan Johar, Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal and Yash Chopra among many others. 

The film that followed "Dabangg" in the awards ' tally was "Band Baaja Baraat" with six awards in it's kitty. It registered it's name in categories like best editing (Namrata Rao), best art director (T.P Abid and Sonal Choudhry), best costume design (Niharika Khan), best actress (Anushka Sharma), best debut director (Maneesh Sharma) and best male debut (Ranveer Singh). 

Apart from these, the evening also announced special awards. A new category called the President honour for outstanding achievement in cinema was conferred on Aiahwarya Rai andHrithik Roshan for their performance in "Guzaarish" and Sanjay Leela Bhansali for directing the film that dealt with the story of a magician who becomes a paraplegic after a magic trick goes wrong. 

The lifetime achievement award was given to Dharmendra for completing 50 years in the Hindi film industry. He was handed over the award by Yash Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan. 

Other awards announced at the event include: 

Best Cinematography - Sudeep Chatterji (Guzaarish) and Santosh Sivan & V. Manikandan (Raavan) 

Best Sound Recording - Pritam Das (Love Sex Aur Dhoka) 

Best Special Effects - Prime Focus (Guzaarish) 

Best Re-recording - Tapan Nayak (Raavan) 

Best Lyrics - Gulzar (Ishqiya) 

Best Screenplay - Rajat Arora (Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai) 

Best Story - Anusha Rizvi (Peepli Live) 

Best choreography - Farah Khan (Tees Maar Khan) 

Best Comic Performance - Paresh Rawal (Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?) 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role - Arjun Rampal (Raajneeti) 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Prachi Desai (Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai) 

Best Director - Karan Johar (My Name Is Khan).

Moree  6th Apsara Awards 2011 Photo Gallery 

Big B admires disciplined southern film industry

Big B admires 'disciplined' southern film industry  

New Delhi, Jan 9 (IANS) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who recently did a cameo in actor Mohanlal's Malayalam film "Kandahar", says he admires the discipline in southern cinema.

"They may be in different language, but when the camera rolls we are all the same - professional, disciplined and nervous as hell! I have always admired the sense of discipline in the South," Amitabh wrote on his blog bigb.bigadda.com Saturday.

"Have admired their management qualities and the reverence they show to fellow artists and to the profession. We in the Western parts of the nation still have a long way to go before we can match up to them in this, but I think that we are getting there.

"Cinema from the state of Kerala has always been aesthetic and sensitive even in their commercial versions, the literacy quotient being the highest in the country. Though according to recent analysis other states are catching up, if not surpassing them," he added.