Global Indian Film Awards announces nominations for the Popular and Technical Awards

GIFA's jury headed by Aziz Mirza - acclaimed Producer and Director of 'Chalte Chalte', Bollywood's international star - Sir Om Puri, Director - Feroz Nadiadwaala, Producer - Director - Writer Umesh Mehra, veteran Journalist - Bharathi Pradhan and Gulshan Grover - member of the GIFA Advisory Board jointly announced the GIFA's Popular and Technical award categories.

GIFA, conceptualized to acknowledge excellence in the Indian Film industry and honor artists in 23 categories across various genres, from acting to film making. Nominations for GIFA have been invited for films released in the Indian market during the period January 2004 - December 2004. Only artistes performing in India are eligible for nominations. The awards are divided into two main categories - Technical Awards and Popular Awards.

Bollywood fans from the Middle East can vote for the Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film through an interactive web based and a print based poll format. Voting for these 3 popular categories starts from 12th January and will end on 22nd January 2005. The other 20 categories will be finalized by the esteemed panel of judges and Price Waterhouse Cooper will act as Official Tabulator, endorsing the voting procedures and confirming the winners of all categories.

Sameer Khan, VP Global Events and the official spokesperson for GIFA said 'The Global Indian Film Awards is an official DSF event that will bring together the finest filmmakers, the brightest stars and a host of industry luminaries from Bollywood for a weekend of glamour, accolades and film activities.

The GIFA Bollywood weekend festivities in Dubai includes a celebrity football match on January 26th, charity dinner in aid of Tsunami relief and the grand finale - the GIFA Awards Night that will be held at the Al Wasl Stadium on the 27th January 2005.

GIFA is a ticketed event and 10% of the proceeds will be donated to the Prime Ministers Relief Fund (India).'

Saeed Al Nabouda, CEO of DSF expressed great satisfaction for having chosen GIFA to be the official event of DSF. 'By staging an event of this magnitude in Dubai, we plan to bridge the chasm between Bollywood and its fans residing in the Middle East. We are committed to making GIFA an internationally competitive and recognised event that will be produced on international standards.'

'Arabian Radio Network is all set to give listeners the best of Bollywood at the upcoming Global Indian Film Awards. The crème de la crème of India's film industry , signatories from the UAE and India, together with Bollywood fans, will be witness to all the glitz and glamour that descends on Dubai later this month, ' said Abdul Latif Al Saegh CEO Arabian Radio Network.

The GIFA trophy made out of 24 ct gold is based on the 5 elements of the universe. The trophy presented to each winner is produced by Citigold Corporation, Australia and certified by a leading global certification house for its purity.

Winners of the Technical Awards will be announced next week, stay tuned for more information!