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With its signature theme as ‘Building Bridges’, the three day Indian International Film Academy (IIFA) event kickstarted on Friday in Bangkok. As Thai dancers and drummers welcomed the Bollywood glitterati the focus on the opening day of the IIFA weekend was not just cinema but also communication and diplomacy.
In its ninth edition, IIFA is focusing on building brand Bollywood as a soft power.
While IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan stressed on the importance and strength of Indian cinema in creating integration beyond Indian shores, Indian ambassador to Thailand Latha Reddy elaborated on the importance of culture in diplomatic channels by virtue of a new concept of public diplomacy framed by the External Affairs Ministry.
“India is not just about politics, diplomacy, strategic alliances and economic reforms, India is also about songs and culture. The need is to use Indian film industry to get the message of India,” said Reddy.
Also present on the occasion, Weerasak Kowsurat, Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister stressed on Thailand’s attraction as a good location for Bollywood productions. Incidentally, last year alone 92 Indian production companies shot features, ads and documentaries in Thailand which made the country richer by $200 million. “Thanks to India, we can safely say that Thailand is the filmmaking capital of Asia,” said Kowsurat.
The Minister also announced that the Royal Thai Government had passed a new legislation to set up a one-stop service centre to help foreign filmmakers with permissions required for shooting.
Another major highlight of the IIFA event is its continuing support to the ‘Go Green’ crusade launched last year in Yorkshire when the green carpet replaced the red one. This year, IIFA has tied up with UNEP and TERI and also launched the Green Globe Foundation as its contribution to combat global warming.
Bachchan planted a sapling of the Champa plant to symbolise the movement and continuing with the green momentum, the IIFA Global Leadership Award was presented to scientist Dr Rajendra K Pachauri, who heads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the joint winner of the Nobel Prize for peace last year.
Dr Pauchari lauded IIFA and Bachchan’s contribution to creating awareness about global warming. “Bachchan is a very modest person and he comes from a place where modesty is valued. He told me that it is just a small step on his behalf to promote the cause. I told him that even if it is a small step for him, it is a giant step for mankind. It is necessary for icons of every society to step out and articulate their resolve to move the human race onto a path of development which will help people to solve the problem. Movie stars and film personalities have the power to command attention from the public,” he said.
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