Mumbai, March 30
Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said he was ''absolutely fine'' while facing the media for the first time since he got back to work after a three-month rest following intestinal surgery. Kicking-off the voting process for the 7th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards to be held in Dubai this year, Amitabh said, Dubai, with 80 per cent of the total 1.2 million population hailing from the Indian sub-continent, the new host city was nearer home.
The actor, who is the brand ambassador of the IIFA, said he would definitely make a trip abroad to promote the event if his ''health permits.''
However, to a poser on reports that his illness had recurred, the Big B, clad in white cotton shirt, jeans and designer sun glasses, shot back saying, ''How do I look!'' However, Bachchan, who had performed last year in Amsterdam on stage along with son Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai, said he would not be performing this time.
He said the IIFA was not just an awards function but a weekend full of activities like conferences to promote business and tourism, film festival, a film premier, sporting activity to raise funds for cine workers and technicians and interactions between the Indian film industry and representatives of the film world from the host country.
''The number of Indian tourists to the cities where the IIFA has been held, has gone up every year,'' he said.
The megastar noted with pride that the IIFA, since its inception six years ago in London, had promoted the concept of the Indian cinema to the world.
The FICCI-IIFA global business convention will again be the highlight of this year's weekend activities.
As many as 13 awards in the popular category and 12 in technical will be given away, apart from the special awards. The nominations and dates of the IIFA weekend in Dubai will be announced later, he said.
—UNI
