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Though Aishwarya Rai won't be able to make it to Dubai, Abhishek will be able to somehow squeeze in a quick trip to Dubai and come back to Chennai to join the crew of Mani Rathnam's Guru.
"I've to be there. I'm nominated and by dad is the ambassador for the event," says Abhishek.
But it's impossible for Aishwarya and the rest of the Guru team in Chennai to get away.
However Karan Johar is very much on for IIFA. Says a close friend, "Karan is on the advisory board of the IIFA awards. There was never any question of his not attending the awards.
He's gone to London on Thursday in connection with the media promotion of the music of Kabhi Alvidaa Na Kehna . From there he proceeds to Dubai for IIFA."
However Shah Rukh isn't attending. "And that's because he' s on holiday with his wife and two kids in London after working non-stop on Don with Farhan Akhtar in Malaysia for three months. This was a holiday he had promised his family for months, and they had been looking forward to it," says a close friend of Karan and SRK.
Sanjay Dutt will also have to give the event a miss. Because of his legal problems he isn't permitted into Dubai. However efforts were on to arrange a special permit for Sanju Baba, so he could accompany his pal and business associate Sanjay Gupta and their production company White Feather for the launch of their forthcoming films.
Says Gupta, "Yes unfortunately Sanju can't accompany us. But we'll all be there and we expect our launch to be spectacular."
Jagmohan Mundhra who flies down from London for the event in Dubai will be premiering Provoked at IIFA on 14 June.
There will be a stunning scattering of stars at IIFA in spite of the conspicuous absence of Shah Rukh Khan.
Cricket
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