Amitabh Bachchan, Honorary IIFA Brand Ambassador casted the first vote yesterday to initiate the proceedings of The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Voting Weekend for the IIFA Awards 2010, for members of the Indian Film fraternity.

Each year over a thousand industry stalwarts, actors, directors, producers, technicians and composers among others cast their votes, which decide the nominations for the main awards. The 19th, 20th and 21st of March mark the 11th year of the IIFA’s Voting Weekend.

The IIFA management has invited the Academy members and the Film Industry to cast their votes and shortlist nominations in the category of the Popular Awards. The Technical Award winners and the Popular Award nominations are derived from this voting weekend. As in the past, the prominent members from the fraternity are expected to participate this year as well.

Amitabh Bachchan, Honorary IIFA Brand Ambassador shared, “It is with great pride that I cast the first vote of the IIFA Voting Weekend 2010. Year upon year, the film fraternity put in their vote, as a mark of respect and support to their peers by voting for whom they deem to be the very best of the last year.”

He also added, “As a member of the film industry, I look forward to another luminous decade, as IIFA journeys forth, sharing the Indian cinematic movement with the world, one country at a time.”

2010 marks the eleventh year of the IIFA celebrations. The IIFA Awards started off as a dream to showcase Indian Cinema beyond Indian shores. Today, that dream has become a movement. After a magical decade wherein IIFA celebrations have been held in different parts of the world, the IIFA Weekend is now eagerly awaited as the ultimate celebration of Indian Cinema.

“The central endeavor of the IIFA Voting Weekend is to have the Indian Film Industry, the people behind the actual magic decide who the laurels should be bestowed upon. This gives them an opportunity to vote for their favourites and play judge. We have received much support in the last ten years and are overwhelmed by number of loyalists. In our eleventh year, we aspire to grow and take the Weekend and Awards to newer heights,” said Wiz Sabbas Joseph, Director of Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

The IIFA Voting process is a stringent and methodical procedure that is closely monitored by PriceWaterHouse Coopers (PwC), the official auditors for the event. The popular category nominations will then be available for the global audience to participate in the voting process. The final winners of the IIFA Awards are revealed on the night of the Awards ceremony when the envelope is opened onstage, in front of the live audience. The results are surrounded by secrecy and the credibility of the voting process is one of the key parameters of this prestigious award.