”I’m doing Slumdog Millionaire for my son Harsh” – Anil Kapoor

By Bollywood Hungama -

March 29, 2008 - 12:00 AM IST

The countdown to IIFA Awards 2009 has begun and what makes this year's IIFA all the more special is the fact that it completes 10 years of awarding cinematic excellence. In other words, IIFA celebrates a Golden Decade in Indian Cinema.

The IIFA Awards 2009 Voting Weekend is scheduled to kick start this Friday, March 6, for members of the Indian film fraternity. Each year, industry stalwarts, actors, directors, producers, technicians, composers and behind the scenes communities cast their votes on the basis of which IIFA comes out with the nominations for the main awards.

This year too members of the film fraternity would be exercising their votes on the 6th, 7th and 8th of March- the IIFA Awards 2009 Voting weekend. Around a thousand people on an average from the film industry come in each year to vote at the Weekend. The Technical Award winners and the Popular Award nominations are derived from this voting weekend.

Manmohan Shetty who is also an IIFA Advisory Board member seemed excited at the prospect of kick-starting the activities for the 10th Annual IIFA Awards. "IIFA has grown into an event of repute over the last 9 years. This year, being the 10th year of IIFA, the celebrations will be even bigger. The IIFA Voting Weekend is the only event of its kind where the entire film industry comes to vote."

Like each year, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan (IIFA Brand Ambassador) will cast the first vote and initiate proceedings. The IIFA Voting process is a stringent and methodical procedure that is closely monitored by Price WaterHouse Coopers (PwC), the official auditors for the event. The popular category nominations are put up on online for the global audience to participate in the final voting process.