It happened at IIFA!

We bring you 2007 IIFA Yorkshire Weekend highlights...

The Limelight
If there was anyone giving competition to Shilpa Shetty for the spotlight at the IIFA it was the newly married couple - Abhishek and Aishwarya Bachchan. The two were seen together everywhere and seemed to have eyes only for each other. Abhi-Ash were spotted taking in the cricket match at Headingly from the stands with Abhi's sister Shweta Bachchan and her two kids as well as the Big B. On another occassion we saw the new Mrs. Bachchan enjoy spending time with her pa-in-law Amitabh at a school in Yorkshire and she made sure to sign her new name Aishwarya Bachchan before she left. We also caught Abhi-Ash share a light moment before the cameras during the announcement of the upcoming Unforgettable Tour including Big B, Abhishek, Aishwarya, Lara Dutta, Bipasha Basu and Ritiesh Deshmukh. The light eyed beauty was stating how she was looking forward to the tour with people that she knew as she went about naming them when her husband decided to pat her in between and remind her to take his name too!

Aftab Shivdasani's patriotic zeal
Even as the Headingly Stadium started filling up with Bollywood stars and an eager audience who couldn't wait to see them up close and personal, a certain actor's impulsive action really endeared him to the thousands of Indians in the audience. Before the match could start, Aftab Shivdasani ran around the stadium draped in the Indian tricolour. The celebs in the audience that included Shweta Bachchan with her kids, Big B, Salman Khan, Govinda, Saif Ali Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Arjun Rampal, Ritiesh Deshmukh, Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, couldn't believe their eyes. But the surprise was only momentary. Soon they joined the spectators in cheering him!

Headingley Carnegie Stadium hosted a match between Team IIFA and England. Team IIFA had Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin, Zayed Khan amongst others while the English team included ex-cricketers like Devon Malcolm, Gladstone Small, Robin Smith and Phillip Defreitas.

Geeta Basra makes an impact
The Train was premiered at the IIFA, so naturally Ms Basra was there looking quite gorgeous in a fairly demure beige dress with beadwork across her chest. The actress, who is still to make a telling impression here, was described by the media as an example of the Indian fashion world, where women wear clothes that are reminiscent of the glamour of the 40s and the 50s. Geeta told the press that the dress has got to be 'sexy, voluptuous and gorgeous but with respect.' Care to explain that to us Geeta?

Salman Khan nicknamed Brad Pitt of India
Wonder if Salman Khan takes this as a compliment especially when he is trying to create an image for himself that will be iconic.

Big B's selling skills
When IIFA went green, nobody really expected the Big B to contribute at the grassroot level. But there he was at the Oxfam store, interacting with customers directly. This year, IIFA had tied up with the international charitable organization Oxfam to highlight global warming. So the red carpet was changed for green and a good many stars had to make last minute changes to their wardrobes too. But Big B attending to customers at a store without the cameras rolling was one scene many a Big B fan would give their eye teeth for.

Big B's homegrown accent
Big B's IIFA antics don't end there. In the short span that he was in Yorkshire, he decided that it made far more sense to be one with the locals. So throughout the festival, he was heard greeting people with – "Ay up! Now then where are you going?" Yup, the true Yorkshire accent was in place!

Shilpa Shetty, UK's flavour of the year
Shilpa must be really upset with the Big Brother guys for not zeroing in on her earlier. Not only is the whole of UK eating out of her palm—the fact that she is planning to open a restaurant there soon will soon make this a near reality—they really believe in showing their affection to her. First they organized a birthday party—supposedly a small private party. The only thing 'small' about this party was its rather meager star turn out-- Preity Zinta, Bobby Deol, Upen Patel and Jay Sean. Even an embarrassed Shilpa walked out in ten minutes. But so what if her desi colleagues preferred to boogey in Salman's party than join her--the teeming, screaming fans outside the venue sure made up for it. So hooked on are they to the girl, that a website sponsored a plane to hover around the stadium during the cricket match with the words 'Happy Birthday Shilpa Shetty'. And as soon as Shetty appeared on the ground there were huge cries and the actress decided to take a lap around the ground to personally meet and hug all her fans. Shetty was also spotted enjoying authentic Indian cuisine at Aagrah – an award winning restaurant in Leeds with her family.

Transport hierarchy
We hear that transportation to the event varied according to celebrity status. The least recognisable actors arrived first in minicabs, followed by better-known celebrities in Mercedes and Range Rovers, followed by the real big-wigs such as the Bachchans were ferried in limos or Rolls Royces.

The Premiere
The Train was premiered on Thursday at the IIFA and although the premiere did not bring in too many celebrities we spotted Shilpa Shetty (yes, she was everywhere!), Salman Khan and UK boy Upen Patel enjoying the movie with its star cast – Emraan Hashmi, Sayali Bhagat and Geeta Basra. Emraan's arrival did bring a cheer to the crowds but the decibel rose amazingly higher with Salman's arrival.

Apne Deols
Dharmendra and his two sons Sunny and Bobby showed their legendary bonding for a long time as they stood on the Green Carpet for a long time at Oulton Hall, Leeds and speaking to their fans about their first film together, Apne.

So there we have it… A celebrity cricket match, a premiere and a birthday party, IIFA had it all and a lot more.