Bollywood is the Indian equivalent to Hollywood. The word originates from India's film capital Bombay, now Mumbai. The industry produces almost 1000 films a year - that's twice as many films as is produced in Hollywood and is about three a day!  | | A little bit of everything... |
Bollywood films are usually musicals – but the actors don’t actually sing. There are a number of famous playback singers who sing the songs, and the actors 'lipsync' - a very clever trick! Very few films are made without at least one song-and-dance number. Indian audiences expect full value for money - they want songs and dances, love interest, comedy and dare-devil thrills, all mixed up in a three hour long extravaganza with an interval! Films like this have also been nicknamed the true 'masala' movie, as they're like a traditional Indian spice box – a little bit of everything! Just as Hollywood have their awards ceremonies, Bollywood do too. The International India Film Academy Awards (IIFA’s) are one of them and they have even been compared to the Oscars. London hosted the very first IIFA’s at the Millenium Dome in 2000. Since then, the IIFA’s have been on an international journey, giving each country they visit a touch of Bollywood glamour.  | | Amitabh Bachchan (c) Sterling Media |
Cities like Malaysia, Johannesburg, Amsterdam and Dubai have hosted the ceremony, and this year Yorkshire beat off competition from the likes of LA and Melbourne to add their name to the prestigious IIFA list. Hosting the grand IIFA awards at the Sheffield Arena on June 9th 2007 were the comic actors Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani, and model-turned-actress Lara Datta. Abhishek Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty also appeared to wow audiences - an all-singing, all-dancing affair! | 
