5 Jun – The 16th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards weekend has finally kicked off today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Anil Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez and Arjun Kapoor were some of the Bollywood stars that were present at the IIFA Awards opening press conference at the JW Marriott Hotel at Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur today. "It looks like this weekend will rock!" said an excited Anil, a sentiment echoed by General Manager of Malaysia Major Events, Tony Nagamaiah.
Meanwhile, director of Wizcraft Entertainment International, Sabbas Joseph, said in an effort to conserve the environment, not only had IIFA changed the red carpet to green carpet in 2007, since then it had also encouraged stars to use the platform of IIFA "to champion for the environment." Tony Nagamaiah returned to the stage once again to present the Bollywood big names with an orang utan plush toy each as an icon of Malaysia.
The stars posing with their orang utan plush toys.
After the press conference, an event was held at Pavilion shopping mall especially for Hrithik Roshan fans. The highlight of the event was the "Bang Bang!" actor giving out free passes to this Sunday's award ceremony. He also entertained his fans with his movie's title song while pulling off some moves that got the crowd dancing along with the actor.
The crowd taking photos of Hrithik Roshan as he shook hands with fans.
Other events that will be held this weekend include an IIFA Gala Screening of "Dil Dhadakne Do" at TGV Cinemas KLCC this Saturday, inclusive of a green carpet event and press conference; and later in the evening, an IIFA Fashion Extravaganza at Shangri-La Hotel, KL. Whereas on Sunday, there will be an IIFA Music Workshop at Starhill 3 at noon, followed by the green carpet and the main event – the award ceremony – at Stadium Putra in the evening. With Malaysia playing host to the IIFA 2015 this year, the weekend festivities will run from 5 to 7 June in Kuala Lumpur.