IDEA partners IIFA for 10th Anniversary Awards

Company Brief

Mumbai, April 29, 2009

The much awaited announcement about the tenth year celebrations for the 2009 IDEA IIFA Awards was made at the Grand Hyatt, Mumbai late last evening. IDEA Cellular, one of the leading telecom operators in the country continues to be the Title sponsor of IDEA IIFA Awards 2009 to be held at the exotic locale of The Venetian® Macao-Resort-Hotel on June 13, 2009.

IDEA Cellular and IIFA have entered into a three year agreement for sponsoring the globally acclaimed IDEA IIFA Awards.

The nominations for the IDEA IIFA Awards 2009 was also announced and released worldwide by IIFA Brand Ambassador Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. The IDEA IIFA Awards would be held at the CotaiArena at The Venetian® Macao as a climax of the IIFA Weekend.

The announcement of the Nominations was done as a result of the film industry voting for the IDEA IIFA Awards in March. Results of the industry voting were audited by PriceWatehouse Coopers, the auditing firm for the IIFAs and Oscars. It was also announced that the voting for the IDEA IIFA Awards would be open to audiences of Indian Cinema all across the world.

The voting for IDEA IIFA Awards 2009, by fans and supporters of Indian Cinema will soon open on www.iifabuzz.com in May and would continue till the end of May 2009. The results of the online voting would determine the winners, which would be announced on stage at the IDEA IIFA Awards presentation ceremony in Macau.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, IIFA Brand Ambassador said, “2009 celebrates a decade of IIFA Magic and promises to be yet another enthralling experience to be held at The Venetian® Macao. Macau is an excellent choice for IIFA’s celebrations and we are excited to bring IIFA’s magic to that fabulous city.”

IDEA Cellular, part of the Aditya Birla Group, will introduce a range of value added services designed on the theme of IDEA IIFA Awards for over 43 million subscribers in the country.

“Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, IDEA Cellular, said, “IDEA’s continued association with IIFA for another 3 years is built on a long and successful alliance for IDEA IIFA Awards. Through this partnership, IDEA will look forward to add the strength of Mobile technology to the magic of Indian film stars and Cinema. IDEA subscribers will experience many new and innovative value added services which connects cinema lovers to their favorite stars designed on the theme of globally popular IIFA awards”.

The IIFA Weekend and Awards is conceptualized and promoted across the world by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd

Mr. Sabbas Joseph, Director, IIFA said, “We are proud of IIFA’s progression over the last 10 years. It is heartening to see IIFA’s achievements over the years and we are glad to see IIFA celebrating a decade of Magic at The Venetian® Macao in June 2009. Our viewership of IIFA has already crossed 600 million. Each of the host destinations have reported growth in tourism, film shootings in their region and growth in Indian investments. We expect the IDEA IIFA Awards to be bigger and better in its 10 year.”

This year, the IIFA Weekend & Awards steers forth to strengthen its vision of building bridges across businesses, communities, nations and cinemas creating ‘One People. One World.’ Having taken the Weekend and Awards to various beau locales world over, from London to Amsterdam, Dubai to Johannesburg, IIFA has created lasting experiences in these countries, opening new markets for Indian Cinema and its varied cultures.

The spectacular IDEA IIFA Awards, which is the biggest South Asian media event, is considered amongst the most-watched global annual events. In its tenth year, IIFA continues its association with IDEA Cellular, one of the leading cellular service provider in India.

For further information, please contact:

Wizcraft International Entertainment/ IIFA

Anuja Choudhary

Mobile: +91 9821185285

Email: anuja.choudhary@wizcraftworld.com