Tampa, Florida – known for its proximity to sugar-sand beaches, its football and its touch of Southern charm – has gone crazy for Bollywood.
The city is hosting the 15th annual International Indian Film Academy awards (IIFA), the first time the extravaganza has been held in the United States. Bollywood celebrities, directors and fans have been streaming into Tampa all week in preparation for the main event, which kicked off last night. Some Hollywood stars are also expected: John Travolta, Kevin Spacey and Stephen Baldwin will make appearances.
From the pre-teens at the airport screaming for autographs of their favourite Indian actors to the Florida governor, Rick Scott, touting the economic benefits of the four-day event, Bollywood is everywhere. About 25,000 people are expected to attend the show at the city’s NFL stadium.
“People didn’t understand all of what was going to happen, but they do now,” said Tampa’s Mayor Bob Buckhorn. “They’re in love.”
Moments later, a beaming Buckhorn boogied on stage alongside the actor Anil Kapoor. The song? Do Da Tampa, which was composed specially for the awards. It was written by an Indian-American drummer who went to high school in Tampa and has some salsa overtones, a nod to the city’s Cuban heritage.
Much of downtown has been transformed by the event, with a dance party that drew thousands on Wednesday, a fashion show on Thursday and a weekend-long business forum.
“Art and music has no barrier of race, religion, ethnicity or country,” said Dr Kiran Patel, an Indian-American cardiologist in Tampa who spent a considerable sum of his own money to help bring the IIFA awards to the city. “Many times, Americans think America is the world. These types of events, you can see there’s something beyond Hollywood.”
An area has been set aside on the top floor of a parking garage at the Tampa International Airport for fans to greet the stars. On Thursday, the actor Hrithik Roshan set Twitter afire when he posed for selfies with fans at the airport.
On Wednesday, a couple of hundred people screamed when the actress Deepika Padukone showed up, looking impossibly fresh after a 30-hour flight from India.
One man held up a sign that read: “Marry me Deepika.”
She scrawled a few autographs and then left quickly after fans pushed over a small barrier.