OTTAWA: Toronto will shimmer and shake this weekend when Bollywood makes a splash in Canada's largest city, with some of India's film superstars gathering for an eagerly awaited awards ceremony. The 12th Indian International Film Awards got underway Thursday as it made its North American premier in Toronto, and is holding a gala opening on Friday of Salman Khan's debut production “Chillar Party,” a comedy about children of different backgrounds. Bollywood gangster movie “Once Upon a Time in Mumbai” leads the field in the nominations for the Hindi-language film industry's glitziest awards, with Saturday's ceremony marking the culmination of the festival. The film has been nominated in 12 categories for the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards, including best film and best male lead for Ajay Devgan, one of Bollywood's leading actors. Screen tough guy Salman Khan's corrupt cop romp “Dabangg” (Fearless) is close behind with 11 nominations. Other movies in the running for a clutch of awards include the drama “Ishqiya” (Love) with nine nominations. Romantic comedy “Band Baaja Baaraat” (The Wedding Planners) and the thriller “Rajneeti” (Politics) both have eight. Launched in 2000 at the Millennium Dome in London, the annual IIFA awards have been held in 11 cities around the world, including Colombo, Macau, Bangkok, Dubai, Amsterdam and Johannesburg. Stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Priyanka Chopra, Bipasha Basu, Mallika Sherawat, Dia Mirza, Anil Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Neetu and Rishi Kapoor are all due to attend the festival. – Agence France
