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Held at Bangkok's Siam Niramit Theatre, on the weekend of June 6 to 8, this three-day celebration of Indian cinema saw leading Indian film stars converge on the City of Angels, much to the delight of local Indian-cinema fans.

Several events were held amid the glitz and glamour of the IIFA weekend. These included a global business forum highlighting trade opportunities between Thailand and India, the premiere of the film "Sarkar Raj", a charity fashion extravaganza and the promotion of several upcoming Indian films.

This event was a first: never before has an Indian film-award ceremony been held in Bangkok. As the celebrities sashayed down the green carpet - in recognition of the environmental awareness the event was promoting - screaming fans tried to rush past the security to get glimpses and photos of their favourite stars.

However, several top Indian stars, including Bollywood's "king", Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Hrithik Roshan were not present. "Chak De! India", a Shahrukh Khan film about a top field-hockey player who returns to the game to coach the Indian women's team, swept nine trophies at the ninth IIFA Awards.

Kareena Kapoor received the Best Actress award for her performance in "Jab We Met". Best Female- and Male -Style Icon awards went to Katrina Kaif and Abhishek Bachchan.

Actors Riteish Deshmukh and Boman Irani, and film director/producer Karan Johar and actress Urmila Matondkar - all Indian celebrities - took turns hosting the event.

While Riteish and Boman drew laughter from the audience with their witty jokes about several Indian actors, Urmila was a disappointment. She failed miserably in her attempts to capture the audience's enthusiasm. She had difficulty in delivering her lines and was even heard using offensive slang backstage, with the microphone still on.

A technical glitch that cut off the music in the middle of the dance number "Acid Factory" forced actress Dia Mirza to perform again. The show could have been better managed. For the first hour and more, people were still trickling into the auditorium, seemingly without tickets. The IIFA had earlier announced that tickets were being touted at exorbitant prices, from US$ 1,000 (Bt33,565) to $5,000.

The final performance by Akshay Kumar, who made his stage entry by sliding down a cable from the auditorium ceiling, was probably the only crowd-puller, as he danced to a song from his forthcoming film "Singh is King" with local Indian boys.

Akshay Kumar, who lived in Bangkok before rising to stardom in Bollywood, was given a special award from the host country by Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat and Indian ambassador to Thailand Latha Reddy.

"I was just a young man when my adventure began here. I was naive, restless and eager to please. This city embraced me with such love and kindness and I wish the rest of the world [could be] like this," he said.

While one of the objectives of the event was to promote Indian cinema in Thailand, the Thai media and audience were conspicuously thin on the ground.

Many local Thai television reporters seemed only familiar with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, mainly due to her 1994 Miss World title. They were also only familiar with old Indian films such as "Hathi Mere Sathi". Hopefully, this event will kick-start a wider appreciation for Indian movies among Thais. Much depends on how serious cinema promoters from both countries are. The Indian film industry produces close to 1,000 films in various local languages every year - double that of Hollywood.

The IIFA has held events in more than eight countries on three continents since its inception. Several countries are competing to host the 10th IIFA awards next year, including Ireland, Egypt, Switzerland and the United States.