IIFA Awards magic in Dubai

The IIFA Awards 2011 happened in Toronto, Canada from June 23-25 but a touch of Bollywood star magic was experienced right here in Dubai this weekend. Ameesha Patel, Arbaaz Khan, Malaika Arora, Amrita Arora, Neha Dhupia and Dia Mirza were in town for a special screening of the IIFA Awards held at the Ritz Carlton, DIFC on July 23.

Arbaaz and Malaika, who produced 'Dabangg' which won big at the IIFA Awards 2011, were accompanied by the latter's sister Amrita. Meanwhile, Ameesha Patel attended with her business partner Kunal Goomer. Neha Dhupia came with her rumoured Venezuelan beau Jimmy, while Dia Mirza hung out with her friend and designer Vikram Phadnis.

Masala! got talking to the stars while they were in the city and here's what we found out about their plans ahead.

Arbaaz Khan: "I wasn’t really surprised by how 'Dabangg' swept the awards at IIFA. In fact, even the National Award didn’t surprise me as it won in the deserving category – Most Entertaining Film of the Year. Now 'Dabangg 2' is well on its way. Of course the pressure and expectations will be there, but as of now, we have only one intention – to make it bigger and better!

Ameesha Patel: I am super excited to turn producer. We already have two films on the anvil. The first one will be directed by David Dhawan and we have got another A-list director for our second venture, the announcement for which will be made soon. I feel it’s great because it’s been only two months since we formally launched the production house. And the movies I am planning will be big budget, entertaining colourful films. It’s a great time to be in Bollywood!

Dia Mirza: The first project from our production house 'Love, Break-ups, Zindagi' is a slice-of-life film. A movie is like your baby, but you have to put it out there for others to like! Let’s see how things go from here!

Click here for pics of the stars and special guests at the IIFA Awards 2011 Screening in Dubai.