All That Went Wrong At IIFA 2017: Organizers Accused Of Fraud; People Demand Refund!
IIFA 2017 is grabbing eye balls and how. After the entire nepotism fiasco, we hear that the attendees are asking for a refund from the organizers. IIFA is being accused of wrongly using names of stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Julia Roberts and Matt Damon to lure people...
The biggest night of Bollywood -- IIFA 2017 doesn't seem to get over. International Indian Film Academy Awards was held in USA for the second time and the fans were going ga-ga about the event. But the 18th edition of the event, held at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, left many Bollywood fans disappointed and angry.
A number of people who attended the two-day extravaganza told AmericanBazaar portal that they have filed dispute claims with their credit card companies and most have already got the ticket money back temporarily.
The complaints about the event ranged from no-shows by stars, who the organizers had said would be attending the event, inordinate delays in schedule, and lack of star presence in after-party events.
The trouble started with the no-show of many big stars who were expected to attend the event, as per one of IIFA’s promotional materials.
Their pamphlets read names like Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra and even Hollywood celebrities, like Julia Roberts and Matt Damon. In fact, the creative also read, ‘Hollywood Meets Bollywood’
IIFA 2017 Pamphlet: Hollywood Meets Bollywood
However, there was an important disclaimer in fine print in it: “All images used in this document are for representation purposes and we don’t claim the presence of these individuals at the event unless the same is advertised on our website.” But then again, the print was so fine that it was as good as negligible.
According to another promotional document, the ensemble of cast that was supposed to attend “the greatest night of Bollywood” — as the brochure described it — included Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra. The Khans, will be performing “on same stage — for the first time in USA,” the brochure clearly states.
IIFA 2017 Pamphlet: Ensemble Cast
Only Salman Khan from the above list showed up as PeeCee was in India during the IIFA weekend and SRK was busy with Jab Harry Met Sejal promotions. Priyanka Chopra, while attending an event in Mumbai, even termed the awards as 'boring'. Also, we later learnt, which we promptly brought it to you, that IIFA was desperately chasing Priyanka to convince her to grace the event and host it as well, but did not settle down for the price the Quantico star deserves.
IIFA 2017 Pamphlet: Salman And Shah Rukh Khan - A Night To remember
Coming back to attendees complaints, another major one was about the inordinate delays in schedule. For instance, maestro AR Rahman’s performance — one of the marquee shows of the event — did not start until about 12:45 am Saturday.
“I am embarrassed that I promoted IIFA to my friends. I thought we were promoting Bollywood and Indian culture. I did not realize that it was a big fraud," said Manny Singh, a resident of Edison, NJ.
An information technology company executive from Jersey City, told a section of media that his credit card company has give him a temporary credit of $1,400. He added that many other are also exploring possibility of legal recourse in getting their money back, “given the false claims and fraudulent marketing.” It was advertised that many celebrities will come. They kept telling us till 11 pm that stars will be coming. In the end, the stars did not come,” he said.
The executive said he has sent several emails to IIFA officials since Sunday, but hasn’t received any response so far. He added that he contacted the New York attorney general to lodge a complaint, but was asked to contact the New Jersey attorney general’s office, since the event was held in New Jersey and was marketed as happening in New York.
“We will all get together and make sure that they will never enter the country again,” he said. “It has to be exposed.”
Prominent New Jersey-based physician Dr. Sanjay Gupta said a number of his friends who flew in from different parts of the country for IIFA had purchased expensive tickets, ranging from $1,500 to $5,000. “They were disappointed with the arrangements,” he said.
“I am embarrassed that I promoted IIFA to my friends. I thought we were promoting Bollywood and Indian culture. I did not realize that it was a big fraud," said Manny Singh, a resident of Edison, NJ.
He also added that one of the performances that he was looking forward to was a concert by the Punjabi musician Diljit Dosanjh. He said Dosanjh performed for all of eight minutes and “he lip-synced throughout.”
Well, after reading such reviews of the attendees, let’s just conclude by saying, all that glitters is not gold!
Image Source: facebook/DrSanjayGupta
