Thus Was IIFA 2015

It was fun watching IIFA 2015. Granted that some of the nominations were shocking. Even some of the wins raised eye brows. But at the end of the day, it gave what everyone looks for in any event these days- entertainment. Entertainment for Indian award shows means mostly dance items by popular stars that move on the beats of people's favourite tracks. And the culture of song and dance that we see played out in our movies gets ably replicated in these award shows.
I loved the grandeur they managed to give to this show. The IIFA chooses a different foreign venue each year. This year, it was Malaysia. And it didn't disappoint.
The hosts were the rambunctious Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh (of the AIB Roast fame, I might add). But due to the nature of the occasion, they were not the same unbridled selves as their AIB Roast avatar. That video was from a different planet for a puritanical Indian audience.
The dance performances were not a bore either. Especially electric was the performance by Sonakshi Sinha who danced on the tracks of most of her male counterparts with those flashy aviators on and various dubmashes being played out in the background. Her dubmashes have been a joy to watch even on YouTube. She is pretty good at enacting them. She refrained from using the overused Khaamosh line from her father, which was such a relief! But Arjun Kapoor did it anyway as Ranveer Singh tried to add 2 and 2 about Kapoor and Sinha.
What can really screw one's head when watching an Indian award show is the ridiculous kind of nominations that it often throws and how it can make the most undeserving artist win in a certain category. It is also the reason why these award shows enjoy very little credibility. And while most nominations and wins seemed in place. Some of the most shocking were:

  • Hrithik nominated for Best Actor for his role in 'Bang Bang'
  • ShahRukh nominated for Best Actor for his role in 'Happy New Year'
  • Randeep Singh Huda nominated for Best Actor for his role in 'Highway' instead of being nominated for his role in 'Rang Rasiya'
  • Varun Dhawan winning the best comic artist for his role in 'Main Tera Hero' (instead of Sharib Hashmi winning the same award for his much better performance in 'Filmistaan')
I wonder what leads to such erroneous choices. Are these institutions trying to please a certain lobby? Are they trying to cater to a certain audience? Or are they just fulfilling the duties of the Bollywood brotherhood? 
Whatever it may be, the first responsibility of a jury should be to recognise only the best and brightest. And I know that everyone will have a subjective view of what is the right selection criteria but we can all tell black from white and red from blue. 
Be that as it may, que sera sera and as Katy Perry would say, "It's no big deal."

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