India's superstars strut their stuff at the IIFAs

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA: It's all part of the magic of the movies that what may flash by on the screen in a matter of seconds may have taken hours if not days to create. Actors usually have the freedom to hone their performance in a particular scene by repeating the process for a number of takes - but when they appear on stage, they have to get it right, first time.

The International Indian Film Awards ceremony offers a rare opportunity to see the stars' best performances on screen during the past year - and then watch them put their talents on display in a spectacular stage show. This year's IIFA Awards were presented in Colombo and Eastern Mosaic travelled to Sri Lanka to cover the IIFA Weekend as a build up to the main event: the Awards ceremony.

Eastern Mosaic was represented by field reporter Jailoshini Naidoo and special correspondent Suchitra Pillai - and they report that fans were held spellbound by the electrifying performances of Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan at the IIFAs. The evening was hosted by Lara Dutta, Riteish Deshmukh and Boman Irani, and other major names who wowed the crowd were Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Govinda and Vivek Oberoi, while former Miss Sri Lanka Jacqueline Fernandez was a home-town favourite.

Eastern Mosaic viewers will be able to enjoy a sixty-minute package featuring the presentation of the main awards and highlights of the scintillating celebrity set-piece song and dance performances. SABC2 will screen this Eastern Mosaic special edition at 8pm on Saturday evening of 31 July, with an encore on Sunday morning 1 August at am.

To allow viewers to enjoy the full IIFA experience, Eastern Mosaic will present a two-part build-up in the shows preceding the Awards special edition:

A scene-setter covering the launch of the IIFA Week-end in Colombo - to be screened on Sunday morning the 18th of July in Eastern Mosaic's regular 11:00 slot;
A curtain raiser covering various celebrity-studded events, which will be aired on the morning of Sunday 25 July.

Further features will focus on the IIFA Fashion Extravaganza, the IIFA Foundation charity cricket "series" and various other film industry news and events. Don't miss seeing the stars in action in Sri Lanka - in the July, August and September editions of Eastern Mosaic - at home on SABC2.