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As we are only a few weeks away and time is ticking the hype of the award show is making major buzz in North America and worldwide! Indian cinema’s megastar Vidya Balan will join the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) on a 3-city tour of America (New York, Houston and Tampa) to promote the upcoming IIFA Weekend and Awards and which will be held in Tampa Bay this April for the very first time in America! The ‘Ooh La La’ girl is hitting the tour and might even shake a leg at the conference! Or will she?
The 15th Annual IIFA Weekend will take place in Tampa, Florida where it will make its American debut from April 23-26 2014. The event is expected to bring tremendous immediate and long-term benefits & opportunities to the region including thousands of visitors to the area during the weekend.
The tour conference kicks off in New York City this Tuesday! Vidya Balan will also be attending the press conference in Tampa and Houston this week as well! Vidya Balan who has known to rock Indian cinema screens will also be conducting a film workshop with Hollywood actor Kevin Spacey!
For the workshop, he will join other dignitaries from both film fraternities who will share their profound insights and valuable opinions on a variety of subjects relating to cinema. Indian actor, Vidya Balan will participate on behalf of Bollywood at the Workshop. Spacey also will present a Master class focusing on the trends in Hollywood and the Indian Film Industry!
In 2005 Vidya made her Hindi film debut with Pradeep Sarkar’s musical drama Parineeta. Parineeta fetched her a Best Female Debut award and a nomination for Best Actress at the annual FilmFare Awards ceremony that gain worldwide attention as she rocked her first film! The following year, Vidya also appeared opposite Sanjay Dutt in Rajkumar Hirani’s comedy film Lage Raho Munna Bhai. She portrayed the role of Jhanvi, a radio jockey and the love interest of the protagonist Munna Bhai. To prepare for her role, she met with a couple of radio jockeys and watched them at work. Her performance was critically well received, and the film emerged as a blockbuster with earnings of 1.19 billion (US$19 million)!
In 2007 Vidya featured in a supporting role in Mani Ratnam’s semi-biographical drama Guru as a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. The film, which starred Methuen Chakraborty, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and R. Madhavan in leading roles, performed well at the box office. Her next release was Nikhil Advani’s Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love, a romantic comedy featuring an ensemble cast, in which she was paired opposite John Abraham. The film, which narrated six individual love stories, saw Vidya play the role of a television reporter, Tehzeeb Hussain, suffering from a memory loss condition. Vidya then took a supporting role in Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s suspense thriller Eklavya: The Royal Guard, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan, and Sanjay Dutt. She was later cast as Isha Sahni, a single mother, in Sajid Khan’s Heyy Babyy, alongside co-stars Akshay Kumar, Ritesh Deshmukh, and Fardeen Khan. The comedy film was a box-office success!
Her most talked about film is ‘The Dirty Picture’ a biopic based on the life and death of the controversial Indian actress Silk Smitha. She described the role as the “boldest” she had ever played, one that “required a lot of mental preparation,” and to look the part, she gained 12 kilograms which is nearly 26 lbs! The film opened to major critical acclaim, and Vidya received unanimous praise for her portrayal which several reviewers regarded as her best performance to date. The film was eventually declared a blockbuster, earning 
1.14 billion (US$18 million) world wide. Vidya won a second FilmFare Award, a third consecutive Screen Award, and a National Film Award for Best Actress!
Vidya Balan has been able to play many characters and roles in the Hindi Cinema world, which allows her to work on many more roles this year! Her recent film Shaadi Ki Side Effects is still in theaters and stars her and Farhan Akhtar who is hosting the award show this year! Her upcoming movie Bobby Jasoos is out this year which also stars her and Lucknow actor Ali Fazal!
Andre Timmins, Director – Wizcraft International & IIFA said,
“IIFA has always been viewed as a platform to bridge the gap between the Indian film industry and the international audience. It has been our dream to be able to do this with the participation of Hollywood artists being featured within our events and this year as we debut in America we are proud to have achieved this with a master class that celebrates accomplished actors Kevin Spacey & Vidya Balan from the respective industries. This master class will be an enthralling event that will create a great platform for knowledge exchange in the world of film and media.”
We are only a few weeks away from the major event, which will be held in Tampa Bay this April! Are you ready for the excitement?
