TORONTO – The first-ever Punjabi International Film Academy Awards (PIFAA) will be held in Toronto on August 4 with Bollywood legend Dharmendra acting as the brand ambassador-promoter of the event.
The event is aimed at taking Punjabi films to a higher plank and getting international recognition for Punjabi artists.
The event will consist of a 3 hour long Award function full of entertainment with performances from leading Punjabi actors, singers, comedians and performers. It will be attended by a large number of Punjabi film personalities from India and around the world. Leading Punjabi film personalities have already agreed to come to Toronto for the event. Over 100 renowned people from Punjabi film industry are expected to attend the awards function in Toronto.
The Awards will be given in 15 categories. There will be 5-6 entertainment performances. Punjabi films from Pakistan will also be included in a special category and some leading Pakistani film personalities will also be invited.
While Dharmendra, the biggest Punjabi name in Bollywood, has agreed to be the Brand ambassador of the awards, other leading names of the Punjabi films – Om Puri, Raj Babbar, Prem Chopra, Gurpreet Ghuggi, Jimmy Shergill, Manmohan Singh, Navneet Singh and Arya Babbar have already confirmed their participation in the awards.
Punjabi films have been finding increasing popularity outside India thanks to rapidly increasing Punjabi population abroad and good quality of Punjabi films made in recent years. Ontario already has the biggest Punjabi population (approx 400,000) outside India. Punjabi films get excellent response in Canada and is considered key market for Punjabi films. Punjabi films are therefore being aggressively marketed in Canada and other parts of the world like US, UK and Australia.
Despite the long history of Punjabi films, the dominance of Punjabi people in Bollywood and the increasing popularity of recent Punjabi films there is no major Award function dedicated to rewarding excellence in Punjabi films.
After consultation with a large number of Punjabi film personalities and their enthusiastic response Parvasi Media Group has decided to start Punjabi International Film Academy Awards (PIFAA). The first such Award function will be held in Toronto at Air Canada Center, (One of the most famous landmarks in Canada) on Saturday 4th August 2012.
The awards like its Bollywood cousin the IIAFA will subsequently be taken to different cities in Canada, including Vancouver next year, and other parts of the world over the following years.
The event is sure to create tremendous excitement among the Punjabi community in Ontario state and is expected to be attended by sellout crowd of about 15,000. It will be a 4 day event with several other programs as a part of the Awards. Worldwide Premiere of a new Punjabi film will be held at Silvercity Brampton. A trade show and music concerts by prominent artists also planned.
The awards show is being organized by Parvasi Media Group, which is the leading Punjabi newspaper for the South Asians in GTA.
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