Mumbai, 19th May, 2017: The 18th Edition of the 2017 NEXA IIFA Awards Powered by Vivo is among the most coveted and highly anticipated awards celebrations that honor the very best of Indian Cinema with the highest level of achievement seen through the glamorous IIFA statuette. Set to be held at the iconic MetLife Stadium on the 14th & 15th of July, this year the NEXA IIFA Awards will witness the felicitation of powerhouse performances and films at the highly anticipated Awards night. The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards announced the list of nominations in the popular category today as IIFA Global Voting goes LIVE on 20th May 2017 till 18th June 2017.

The Nexa IIFA Awards will air exclusively on Broadcast Partners, Colors TV with the Title Sponsor NEXA, and Powered by VIVO.

Tickets are LIVE to the general public available online only at ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000 or by simply clicking the ‘Buy Tickets Tab’ on the official IIFAwebsite http://www.iifa.com/. Fans can also purchase the tickets at MetLife Stadium Box Office (Box Office hours: M – F, 11am – 5pm). For VIP Club Experiences, e-mail us at vipclub@iifa.com.

Indian Cinema has had an incredible year with a diverse number of truly unique films that not only took the box office by storm but were also critically acclaimed. Leading the race with a whopping 8 nominations in the popular categories along with Best Picture is Ae DIl Hai Mushkil followed by the biopic of the Former Indian Cricket Team Captain – M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story bagging 7 nominations in popular categories including the Best Picture nominations. Top Contenders for Best Picture category are Neerja, Pink, Sultan and Udta Punjab.

The nominees for Best Actor in Leading Role Male are Shahid Kapoor for Udta Punjab, Ranbir Kapoor for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Shah Rukh Khan for Fan, Sushant Singh Rajput for M.S. Dhoni, Amitabh Bachchan for Pink and Salman Khan for Sultan. The nominees for Leading Role Female are Anushka Sharma for Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, Alia Bhatt for Dear Zindagi & Udta Punjab, Sonam Kapoor for Neerja and Tapsee Pannu for Pink. The Best Director nominations feature Karan Johar (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil), Neeraj Pandey (M.S. Dhoni), Ram Madhvani (Neerja), Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary (Pink), Ali Abbas Zafar (Sultan) and Abhishek Chaubey (Udta Punjab).








As IIFA continues to bring together the biggest stars of Bollywood and Hollywood on one stage, the 2017 IIFA Festival New York will play host to some of the most celebrated stars and musicians of the Indian film industry, notable guests, and dignitaries from India and the region, world media and Indian cinema fans from across the globe.

Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd, known for pioneering many extravagant and mesmerizing events in India and across the world, conceptualized IIFA 17 years ago, by the creative genius of the trio of masterminds - Andre Timmins, Viraf Sarkari and Sabbas Joseph. The vision was to celebrate Indian cinema outside India; and IIFA(International Indian Film Academy) the flagship brand is the accomplishment of that dream. IIFA is dedicated to building bridges across cinema, businesses, communities and nations, creating everyone’s dream: “One People. One World”. The journey over these past 17 years has seen the brand evolve from a one night affair to a weekend, which celebrates and hosts various events and activities related to cinema, business, culture, music and fashion. Hosting a variety of events during the weekend IIFA helps bring together a global community of people from all walks of life.

Speaking of the association, Mr. R. S Kalsi, Executive director, Marketing & Sales, Maruti Suzuki said “We are delighted to associate with NEXA IIFA Awards 2017 for the third consecutive year. This year we will showcase how NEXA is at the forefront of bringing innovation & delivering outstanding experiences. NEXA is not just an automotive brand but also a lifestyle brand. NEXA is all about newer and premium experiences, just like IIFA which builds lifetime experiences and felicitates excellence in Indian cinema at a global stage”

Delighted at the association, Vivek Zhang, CMO, Vivo India, said, “We are thrilled to have partnered with the most coveted platform representing Indian cinema globally. As a global smartphone brand, we constantly try to connect closely with our target audience in different parts of the country. We believe that the popularity of India International Film Awards (IIFA) is a splendid opportunity for Vivo to strengthen connect with the right audience and create a strong brand recall. Our latest offering in the Indian market is a step ahead in our endeavor to revolutionize the selfie phenomenon.”

Speaking on the occasion, Raj Nayak, Chief Operations Officer Viacom18 said, "IIFAFestival is the world's biggest platform showcasing the magic of Bollywood and India. Colors, India's leading Hindi Premium entertainment channel, is delighted to bring the magic that’s being created in New York City to our viewers across the globe. As always the IIFA Weekend & Awards extravaganza will be telecast to our viewers in over 140 counties with ancillary programming on other Viacom18 channels including MTV & Colors Infinity.”

Andre Timmins, Director- Wizcraft International, the producers and creators of the IIFAmovement says, “It is amazing to see the progress that the IIFA Festival New York has seen in the past few months as we prepare for our biggest IIFA Awards ever. Featuring a mega star line up for IIFA Rocks & IIFA Awards we will be creating entertainment like never seen before. We are thankful for so many of the industry that turned out to vote for the nominated films and people involved. It now remains for the global online voting to begin for the popular category awards to be determined. The 2017 IIFAAwards is going to be a night not to be missed and exciting times to see who finally wins those highly coveted IIFA Awards. The demand for tickets has been tremendous and I would simply advise IIFA fans to grab the hotly sought-after tickets while you still can on iifa.com or ticketmaster.com. “

IIFA continues on its journey with strength to grow every year in the world of entertainment and building the outreach as a major event globally to bring positive results and impact. This year is set to be one of the biggest, most extravagant and amazing IIFA Weekends to date. Keep up to date with all the latest news and details on IIFA by logging on to www.iifa.com or checking out the social media handles:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/IIFA/

 Twitter- https://twitter.com/IIFA

 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/iifa/

IIFA Festival is ready to take centre stage in New York City. Don’t miss it for the world!

About IIFA (International Indian Film Academy)

Conceptualized and produced by Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and supported by the key members of the Indian film fraternity, IIFA is the most appreciated South Asian film academy and a global platform that gives the Indian film fraternity an opportunity to reach audiences in international territories. The alliances made via the platform of IIFA provide huge benefits and gain to India but an equally important objective of this prestigious brand is to create similar outcomes in its host country. The aim is to establish a system of mutual benefit to both India as well as the host destinations by boosting tourism, economic development, trade, culture, cross-border investments and film co-productions.

Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd promotes the IIFA Weekend & Awards globally each year and travel to new, exciting and beautiful destinations, taking the film fraternity with it to unite and celebrate the best of Indian film and culture, thereby taking Indian Cinema and India to a wider audience. www.iifa.com

ABOUT WIZCRAFT INTERNATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT PVT. LTD.

Wizcraft International Entertainment, India’s leading media and Entertainment Company is dedicated to showcasing its expertise on the world stage. Having conceptualized some of the grandest events globally including the 50 Years of Indian Independence, the 30 Years of Mauritian Independence, the 10 years of the South African Freedom Struggle, the Commonwealth Games Opening and Closing ceremonies in Delhi as well as the Handover ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, & the prestigious International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards & Weekend for 15 years in over 12 countries, Wizcraft has contributed towards brand building for India across the world. It has pioneered and developed India’s biggest entertainment brand IIFA which has taken Indian Cinema and culture to the world. The growth story of the company reflects the evolution of the Indian event management & entertainment industry itself. Driven by its vision “Believe in the power of your dreams” the company is committed to quality and innovation, while setting its sights on greater peaks of achievement.

ABOUT METLIFE STADIUM

 MetLife Stadium, home to the New York Jets and New York Football Giants, is the number one stadium in the world. This 82,500 seat stadium, one of the largest in the National Football League, sets the standard for venue excellence with state-of-the-art technology, comfort and amenities. The only active venue to serve as the home stadium for two NFL teams, MetLife Stadium hosts 20 NFL games per season, more than any other Stadium.

MetLife Stadium hosts the World’s Biggest Events, on the World’s Biggest Stage. Major events hosted at the stadium include Super Bowl XLVIII, WrestleMania 29, Copa America Centenario, CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinals, Paul McCartney, U2, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and Taylor Swift

MetLife Stadium tops the industry charts annually since opening. The Stadium has ranked as the No. 1 Highest Grossing Stadium in the world for the last 5 years (2012 – 2016) by Billboard magazine. In 2011 MetLife Stadium was ranked No. 1 for safety by Security magazine’s “Security 500” in the Arenas/Stadiums/Leagues/Entertainment division.

For more information, visit :

www.metlifestadium.com

www.wizcraftworld.com

For further queries, please contact:
Wizspk Communications |PR
iifa@wizspk.com, +91 9987099265