The International India Film Academy (IIFA) awards celebrate its North American premiere with a variety of festivities, special events and interviews. The 12th annual International Indian Film Academy awards have arrived and are making its North American premiere in Toronto this weekend. The best of Indian motion pictures will be honoured during the festival and many of its stars will be in town.Bollywood titan Shah Rukh Khan may have skipped the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards circuit for the last six years, but he claims that it's not pettiness or fragile egos that led to his absence.
"Actors avoid it because they have prior work commitments and in my case my children's holidays always fell during the same time in summer and it will be presumptuous to think they will change dates just for one actor," said Khan on the second day of the IIFA weekend celebrations in Toronto. The actor last attended the travelling Bollywood awards show in Amsterdam in 2005. But his continued absence had led to many a speculation, one being that he does not like to share the spotlight.
"When we hear such things that stars don't want to come together under one roof, we may keep silent but we are not accepting those charges blindly. We actors like spending time together especially under an international platform like the IIFAs. There's always that kind of camaraderie among us." Rumour has it that his "frenemy" Salman Khan pulled out of this year's IIFAs fearing a head on collision with him. Khan's intentions may have been noble and without any malice, but his appearance in Toronto on Friday overshadowed all the other events during the day, including the premiere of Salman Khan's first production Chillar Party. The Dabangg star had earlier bowed out of this year's show citing hectic shoots for his forthcoming drama, Bodyguard.
Meanwhile, King Khan's commitment towards making up for lost time at the IIFAs was evident when he spoke about his painful knee injury. Despite nursing a leg tear, the 45 year old actor seems to be determined to make a memorable comeback. "I have taken a couple of injections and my doctor advised me two days ago that I should rest for six months. But since I have made the commitment, it becomes my obligation to do the dance on the awards night or at least try to," said Khan. Earlier in the day, he humoured hundreds of screaming fans by breaking into an impromptu dance from his hit film Dil Se and signed a flurry of autographs thrust at him.
"It's just so wonderful to see the love that's coming from all ends. I feel I owe it to them. I love Toronto for its warm people and the cold weather." Khan's self effacing mood continued throughout the press meet as he confessed that he was working for nearly 18 hours a day. "My focus is to do some very good work and let my work speak for itself. Currently, I am working on making Ra.One on 3D format and Don 2 coming up for release shortly. "We have a lot to learn from the West. VFX in India is still in its nascent stages and it's important that we learn as much from the West, the same way in which they have begun learning from us about other services." His second forthcoming project of the thriller Don 2 will be released alongside actor producer Farhan Akhtar's Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara in mid July. "It will all happen quite fast, but I am curious to know how my fans will react to it."Later in the night, Khan also walked the green carpet for the music fashion extravaganza IIFA Rocks. "My kids will join me soon and I hope I can make this IIFA a memorable one for my fans in Toronto," he said.
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