I have been to Macau very recently and it is a beautiful place and surely a great venue. Of course with presence of ever so gorgeous Aishwarya Rai, the city of Macau must have been the best place to be in, on June 11th’2009. The IIFA awards 2009 journey continued up to 13th June when the major award ceremony function took place.

Aishwarya Rai walked the green carpet at IIFA awards 2009 in exuded style in a grey silk frock with mock neck ruched bodice and structured pleated skirt. She accessorized with black peep toe heels, diamond drop earrings, a gold bangle in her left arm, a black strap watch in her right arm and a glittery silver clutch. Her medium brown hair, styled in loose curls, draped her shoulders. Her makeup included glossy pink lipstick, golden eye shadow and lots of mascara. She really looked very pretty that night. Oh i could die to catch a glimpse of her!

Day one saw Madame Tussauds wax replica of Amitabh Bachchan at the Venetian Macao Hotel Resort which was sent by Madame Tussauds Hong Kong to honor the IIFA brand ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan. Aishwarya and Abhishek joined Amitabh on stage to be photographed with the replica. Let’s have a look at some of the pics from the green carpet and the replica photos…shall we?

Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the 10th edition of the prestigious event by planting a lotus flower, the official flower of both India and Macau. I never knew about this similarity between the two. So some general knowledge passed on via entertainment. Amitabh mentioned about the attention brought to India by the Oscar-winning British movie “Slumdog Millionaire“. He added that India has as much talented people as found in other parts of the world. Indian creativity is in no way less than creativity from any other part of the world. He believes that there are many other stories and ideas which needed to be explored. One the stars of “Slumdog Millionaire”, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala said that Indian films are more dramatic and express themselves with more color than the Hollywood films. Ashutosh played the role of Slaim in Danny Boyle‘s tale of rags to riches.

Okay, Day three, June 13th’ 2009. It is time for the award function night. Guess what, Aishwarya Rai won two achievements award that night. Oh man, these were no small awards in fact they were even bigger than actress of the year of award. Aishwarya won the “Golden Decade” award for her memorable performances in the past 10 years, beating off competition from Rani Mukherjee, Preity Zinta, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. In other words, she was named as the “Star of the Decade“. Along with her, Shahrukh Khan was named as the “Actor of the Decade” which i guess he really deserved.

The second award that Aishwarya received is called “Outstanding Contribution by Indians in International Cinema“. It is a newly introduced award category this year. Aishwarya’s work in “Pink Panther 2” and “Provoked” has got her rolling in Hollywood tinsel town. She is the most talked about celebrity world over from Bollywood. Aishwarya shot to global recognition with few international projects recently and am sure many more projects will follow. Apart from Aishwarya, another recipient of this prestigious award will be our Oscar award winner music composer guru, A.R. Rehman. Nobody has forgotten his work in the big movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. Of course, we Indians know him well, since long for his other masterful work in previous movies.

By the way, Abhishek Bachchan also win an IIFA this year. He took the “Best Comedian” award for the gay themed movie “Dostana“. With his acting skills and his new matured looks, i do hope that we will see him in the Best Actor category next year around. Of course Mani Ratnam’s “Raavan” will give him that platform this year.

Alright, so this was great IIFA awards for Aishwarya Rai and am really happy for her. Hope the trend continue in years to come and she wins more and more awards.

Aishwarya Rai WIth Her Wax Model

Bollywood superstar and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai yesterday became the first Indian celebrity to have her wax model displayed at Madame Tussauds Museum in historic Time Square here.

Within minutes of unveiling of her life-like model dressed in intricately patterned red Sari, her fans in New York began flocking the museum to admire the waxwork.

The unveiling of the model, borrowed by the New York Madame Tussauds from its parent museum in London, coincided with the India’s 60th Independence Day celebration and will be on display for six weeks before being sent back.

But several of her fans, who had gathered at the museum, said the six weeks were too short a period for all fans from New York City and neighboring states to see their favorite star in wax.

A group of dancers, dressed in ‘lahengas’ and matching blouses, gave a scintillating performance during the 15 minute unveiling ceremony. The dances portrayed several of her popular songs.

In the museum, Rai is in the company of several other celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Besides Rai, the only Indian film personalities immortalised at Madame Tussauds in London are her father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan, super star Shah Rukh Khan and Tamil superstar Rajnikanth. Other Indian attractions at the museum are Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

But Rai became the first Indian celebrity to be displayed in New York. Rai’s waxwork was unveiled in London in 2004, timed with the release of her first international film, “Bride and Prejudice”, directed by London-based Gurinder Chadha. She was present during the unveiling in London.

Director of Marketing of the New York Museum Rosemary Preta said the coming of Rai’s waxwork to New York fulfills the long standing demand of her fans.

Set up by Frenchwoman Marie Tussauds in London in 1835, the world famous museum now has branches in Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Hong Kong and Shanghai, besides New York, with Washington DC to be added to the list in October 2007.