IIFA 2023: GLITZ & GLAMOUR

Yas Island in Abu Dhabi hosted IIFA 2023, a two-day film fiesta that teleported Bollywood's glitz and glamour, with the biggest stars in attendance

- Triya Ghosh

For the second year running, Yas Island, the entertainment hub of Abu Dhabi, hosted Bollywood's biggest event, the International Indian Film Academy awards (IIFA) at the Etihad Arena in the tiny island that is packed with entertainment sites, notably several theme parks to go with almost every theme.

As it is targetting India, its biggest source market, IIFA 2023 was a key benchmark in that journey and the star-studded event, held on May 26-27 packed a lot of punch, in terms of glamour and glitz for the awards ceremony. The glamour quotient for the event, especially the award evening on May 27, was particularly high with over 100 stars from the Indian film fraternity in attendance.

IIFA was launched in the year 2000 and positions itself as the event to honour Indian cinematic excellence and recognise the contributions of actors, directors, and technicians.

Every year, the show takes place in different countries, but for the last two years, it has been held at Yas Island at Etihad Arena, a large indoor arena which has a seating capacity of 18,000. But for IIFA 2023, that was clearly not enough as it was packed to brim with fans, not just from the Indian diaspora living in the United Arab Emirates, but also a number of silver-screen addicts from India and several locals and expats from other countries living in the UAE.