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When Amitabh Bachchan took the British House of Commons by storm
09th Nov 2006 14.00 IST
By Agencies

Mega superstar Amitabh Bachchan took the British House of Commons by storm as he took centrestage at the announcement of the hosting of the IIFA Awards 2007.

The eighth annual International Indian Film Academy Weekend and the IIFA Awards will be hosted by Yorkshire for four days from June 7, 2007, it was announced in London Wednesday night.

Before taking the centrestage of the dining hall of the House of Commons, 64-year-old Bachchan who was recently conferred a Doctorate by the Leicester University, had a separate meeting with British Chancellor Gordon Brown who described the Indian actor as "one of the most famous men in the world."

NRI MP and former British minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Office Keith Vaz said he was proud that Leicester University honoured him even before the Delhi University and now he was happy that the France has decided to confer the title Legion of Honour on him.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in a message read out by the Minister in charge of Culture, Tessa Jowell said he was happy that the next IIFA Awards would be held in Yorkshire and that the two countries were jointly working together to promote Indian films.

Present at the gathering were Lord Swraj Paul, NRI Industrialist and British Ambassador for Overseas Business, Indian High Commissioner Kamalesh Sharma, and scores of members of both houses of Parliament.

Vaz presented an enlarged photograph of Bachchan with the London landmark Big Ben, aptly titled 'Big B with Big Ben' and Tom Riordan, CEO, Yorkshire Forward handed a Flag of Yorkshire to the Indian filmstar.

The IIFA Awards 2007 will consist of an awards ceremony, blockbuster world premier, film festival, charity fundraising events, film professionals workshop and global trade forum.

Tessa Jowell said next year The British Academy of Films and Television Arts would celebrate Bachchan's works.

Addressing the packed gathering, Bachchan said it had been a wonderful journey since the launch of IIFA in 2000.

Bachchan noted that about 50-60 years ago acting in films was not considered an honourable profession and many families in fact disapproved of their children taking to acting.

"But today it is a matter of pride that he was being showered with love and affection in this August House," mainly because of the eminence and appreciation the Indian films have earned.

Bachchan said "IIFA is committed to taking Indian Cinema across the globe. Cinema brings together people from diverse cultures for a shared experience bridging the cultural divide. Using cinema as a key to open minds; the International film Academy believes bridges should be built across cinemas, businesses, communities and nations."

Biggest stars of Indian films along with some of the world's best-known international celebrities will attend the IIFA awards in Yorkshire, which will be broadcast across the world on the Star TV network.

The IIFA Awards presentation ceremony has a global reach of about 500 million viewers.

"IIFA has travelled to six countries across the world and has left a mark in the minds and hearts of the people," Director of IIFA Sabbas Joseph said.

Judith Donovan, CBE, Chairman of the regional tourism agency, Yorkshire Tourist Board said "the IIFA 2007 is expected to bring 28,000 visitors to Yorkshire and generate z10 million of direct tourism spend."

The influx of tourists is expected from Europe, US, India and South East Asia.

India boasts of the largest film industry in the world with its annual worldwide ticket sales worth 3.5 billion dollars. It produces over 1,000 films a year and is estimated to grow by 18 per cent annually to gross 2.2 billion US dollars by 2008.

The UK is the second largest market for Bollywood films and merchandising and has the second highest box office takings and DVD sales. Four of the Indian films in 2005 grossed over 1 million pounds in the UK.

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