2008 Indian International Film Academy Awards

In a spectacular five-hour Indian International Film Awards ceremony featuring eight song and dance numbers, two elephants, a fleet of motorbikes, indoor fireworks and film stars descending onto the stage from gantries or entering on skateboards on 8th June 2008, Shimit Amin’s Chak De! India (Come on India) won best film, best actor (Shah Rukh Khan), best director, best screenplay, best story and two technical awards.   Khan stars in the film as a disgraced field hockey player who finds redemption through his coaching of the Indian woman’s team.

The big-budget Bollywood film Om Shanti Om won six awards – four in technical categories, one for lyrics to the title song, and a special award for debutant actor Deepika Padukone.   Khan also starred in this film, but was absent from the awards ceremony because responsibilities as a sports team owner had disrupted his filming schedule.

Top Bollywood stars who were present included Amitabh Bachchan, son Abhishek and daughter-in-law Aishwarya (Bollywood’s ‘royal family’), Akshay Kumar, Govinda, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Vivek Oberoi, Priyanka Chopra, Irrfan Khan, Karan Johar, Neil Nitin Mukesh and Ranbir Kapoor. [ADD]

2008

Thailand: 2008