2009 IIFA Award | Rajesh Khanna | Rajesh Khanna to receive IIFA Award

New Delhi, May 30(IANS) Yesteryear’s superstar Rajesh Khanna will be given the lifetime achievement award at the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Macau next month.

Rajesh, who gave hits like “Aradhana”, “Kati Patang, “Anand” and “Amar Prem”, will be felicitated at the award ceremony of the 10th IIFA celebrations on June 13, an IIFA press statement said.

“Over the years, we have paid tribute to the greats of the Indian film industry, recognising their contribution to cinema. In our 10th year at the IIFA Awards in Macau, we honour Rajesh Khanna who has undoubtedly defined romance in our films,” said Sabbas Joseph, director of Wizcraft International Entertainment, the organisers of the glitzy event.

“He (Rajesh) is considered the first superstar of Indian cinema and has influenced an entire genre of romantic movies, creating a legendary persona that strikes a chord with the youth, even today.” added Joseph.

In the past, IIFA has awarded Bollywood stalwarts like Waheeda Raham, Asha Parekh, Yash Chopra, Dharmendra, Mumtaz and others for their contribution to Indian cinema.

Over 500 luminaries from the Indian film industry are expected to watch Rajesh Khanna receive the award.

The 10th IIFA Weekend will be held at The Venetian Macau Resort June 11-13.

The three-day event will see a host of Indian celebrities as well as international film personalities including brand ambassador megastar Amitabh Bachchan and his family, actors Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapur, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra and Lara Dutta.

Aishwarya Rai, Sonam Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor will be among the star performers at the event.

Aishwarya Rai | Aishwarya Rai – IIFA Performance | IIFA 2009 | Aishwarya Rai to perform at IIFA again

New Delhi, May 29 (IANS) Aishwarya Rai is all set to dazzle audiences with her dance moves at the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards night in Macau, China, next month – her second such appearance at the glamorous event.

She had enthralled audiences by dancing to hit song “Kajra re” at Amsterdam in 2005. She will perform at The Venetian-Macau Resort on the night of June 13, an IIFA press statement said.

Aishwarya’s father-in-law, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, is the brand ambassador of IIFA.

Also performing at the event will be Sonam Kapoor, who will make her on-stage debut, and Kareena Kapoor, who will show off her belly dancing skills.

Bollywood actors Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh, who had the audience in splits with their humour at the awards last year in Bangkok, will play hosts to the glitzy cine event again in Macau. Joining the two would be beauty queen-turned-actress Lara Dutta.

The three-day IIFA Weekend will be held June 11-13 and is expected to draw over 500 luminaries from the Indian film industry.

On why Macau was chosen as the destination for celebrating a decade of IIFA, the orhanisers said they hoped it would “end the deadlock between India and China over the exchange of cinema”.

“We feel it’s (Macau) the Las Vegas of the East. In this 10th year of IIFA’s existence we wanted either the US or China to be our venue,” said Sabbas Joseph, one of the directors of Wizcraft, the organisers of the event.

“We chose China because we feel it could be a gateway for Indian cinema to the West. We also hope to end the deadlock between India and China over the exchange of cinema. We haven’t come away from one venue without opening up doors for the India film industry. We are confident this would be the case in China,” he added.

Actor Katrina Kaif, who has been a darling at the box office of late, as her commercial movies have become huge hits, says she now wants to balance her acting resume by doing a little bit of parallel or serious cinema.

Kat said, “This year onwards, I’m looking for a balance in my film roles though I will always be leaning towards commercial cinema. I love my masti and fun-filled movies and can’t say no to those. But at the same time, I will be looking to do some serious stuff as well and try to experiment.” It has been rumoured that Kat is in talks with acclaimed director Rituparno Ghosh to play the lead in his period drama Devi Chaudhurani based on the story of a lady dacoit.

She adds: “I’m doing a film which is Prakash Jha’s Rajniti (which has Ranbir Kapoor, Ajay Devgan and Arjun Rampal) and that’s completely different from what I have done so far in my career. I kind of like this new challenge too. Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (with Ranbir again) and New York (with John Abraham and Neil Nitin Mukesh) too are quite different from each other. So, though they are commercial material, I’m trying to do things which people haven’t seen me doing.”

Kat is also a part of Blue starring Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta as well as De Dana Dan in which she again teams up with Akki. Since all the films are big banner projects, we quizzed Kat whether it is a conscious decision on her part to turn into a big banner girl.

“Nowadays, in these dicey persisting market conditions it is very important to do movies looking at banners as one puts in very hard work for his or her movies and if post that the movie is not released or promotions are not done properly, the film would sink without a trace. I’m very fortunate that I have been getting big banner offers and I want to continue doing good work. I’m grateful to the industry for accepting me as when I came in the industry, I was a nobody with no one to back me,” she ends.

MUMBAI: Golmaal Returns was the last release of Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision, which released in Diwali last year. In spite of the film doing good business, there were no releases after Golmaal Returns. However, now the company is gearing up to release at least four films for 2009 and 2010, starting with Soham Shah’s Luck, which was shot extensively in South Africa.

Luck stars Sanjay Dutt, Imran Khan, Mithun Chakraborthy, Danny Denzongpa, Ravi Kissen, Chitrashi Rawat and introduces Shruti Hassan. Shooting for the film wrapped up in mid-February and according to the spokesperson of the banner, “The film will release on 12 June.”

The second film from this banner is Blue, which ran into a lot of troubled waters. Fights for supremacy for screen space have seen many a tussels between its leading men, Sanjay Dutt and Akshay Kumar. Most say that this is one of the reasons why this project has not completed on time. Directed by Anthony D’Souza, the film’s cast is also backed by Katrina Kaif, Lara Dutta, Zayed Khan, Kabir Bedi and Rahul Dev. The film has been shot in the Bahamas and Bangkok. Music by AR Rahman and a song featuring Kylie Minogue are supposed to be the high points of the film apart from some dare-devil underwater sequences.

The company’s third film Run Bhola Run is a comic caper and has Govinda, Tusshar Kapoor, Amisha Patel, Celina Jaitley, Rahul Dev and Sharat Saxena. Majority of the film’s shooting has been completely and will be wrapped up soon. Directed by Neeraj Vora, the release date of the film is not yet decided.

Himesh Reshammiya and model turned actress Jennifer Kotwal starrer Mudh Mudh Ke Na Dekkh Mudh Mudh Ke is the last of the lot and is being planned for a release in 2010.

With the competition getting tougher day by day, the temperature soars on Sunsilk presents Knights and Angels this week as the Blue gang of girls set the stage ablaze. After dazzling performances by the Red Gang of girls last week, its time for the Blue Gang of girls to charm the judges with some sizzling performances.

The blue gangs of girls are all set to woo the judges with their Latkas and Jhatkas. For the first time on Knights and Angel’s one of the angels hit bull’s eye by scoring a perfect 10. The Chief Justice Sourav Ganguly who tried his best not to be generous in giving scores, had to surrender as the Blue Angels put up some brilliant performances.

Supporting dada and SRK in their hunt for cheerleaders this week is none other than the gorgeous and charming bollywood damsel Lara Dutta who not only cheered the girls with full enthusiasm but also recollected her days when she participated in the Miss Universe beauty pageant.

Further she was so impressed with the girls, the bollywood babe was so taken aback with the brilliant performances that she also joined them on stage to shake her leg to the tunes of Jhoom Baraber Jhoom and gave these young girls some tips on cheerleading.

Shutranjay Gaikwad, the young and promising Knight Rider will also be the judge for this week. However, he was strictly warned by dada give the red or green signals to the girls based on their performances and not get charmed by their looks which the young cricketer took very seriously but however got clean bowled by Pranalika’s performance.Hoogly and Purab tried to cheer everyone by doing what they do best, leaving Lara, Sourav and the others in splits of laughter.

So don’t miss all the action, excitement and drama this on Knights and Angels this Friday, March 21st at 10 pm only on NDTV Imagine.