Blown away by IIFA

Canada's South-Asian community came out in their hundreds to roll out the green carpet for Bollywood's greats at this weekend's 12th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards.

The star-studded event, which took place last night at the Rogers Centre - the venue where former president Nelson Mandela attracted a crowd of 91000 during a visit in the 1990s - was attended by 22000 people.

This was the first time the IIFA, dubbed the Indian Oscars, took place in a North American country. About 550000 Indians live in the greater Toronto area.

Screaming fans, armed with cameras, packed the Fairmont Royal York Hotel lobby, where the IIFA glitterati were based, to catch a glimpse of their favourite stars.

The hotel looked like Bollywood, with a contingent of local and international media and guests.

Among Bollywood's hottest talents at the three-day extravaganza were Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Zayed Khan, Anil Kapoor, Genelia D'Souza, Ritesh Deshmukh, Gulshan Grover, Lisa Ray, Javed Jafery, Hema Malini, Shabana Azmi, Shilpa Shetty and Dino Morea.

Performing on stage, as a tribute to Michael Jackson on the second anniversary of his death, was his brother Jermaine, with Sonu Nigam.

Also enthralling the audience were Dia Mirza, Mallika Sherawat, Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Dharmendra with sons Sunny and Bobby Deol, Kangana Ranaut and Bipasha Basu.

The world premiere of Double Dhamaal preceded the awards function, followed on Friday by the premiere of Salman Khan's Chillar Party. Then came IIFA Rocks , a fashion-and-music extravaganza, hosted by renowned director Karan Johar and Anushka Sharma.

Designers Vikram Phadnis, Sabyasachi and Rajesh Pratap Singh were also there to showcase their garments.

A global business forum meeting, film festival and various workshops were also held.

At the Double Dhamaal green carpet event, Kapoor and Akthar both echoed the same sentiment - that they were overwhelmed by the tremendous response of the local community.

Ray, who was born and raised in Toronto, thanked the Indian fans and those around the world for their support of the industry over the years.

Toronto's Lester B Pearson International Airport is lined with giant-sized posters welcoming the doyennes of the Indian film industry.

Bollywood's first family, the Bachchans - who this week confirmed Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's pregnancy - were again absent.

Amitabh - "The Big B" - was the IIFA's brand ambassador but this year the organisers scrapped the role, creating the concept Friends of IIFA instead.

• Taschica Pillay is being hosted at the IIFA celebrations by independent TV channel TopTV. Look out next week for her feature on the awards.