I am fine, says Big B

Mumbai, Mar 30 (UNI) Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan today said he was ''absolutely fine'' while facing the media for the first time since he got back to work after a three-month rest following intestinal surgery.

Kicking-off the voting process for the 7th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards to be held in Dubai this year, Amitabh said, Dubai, with 80 per cent of the total 1.2 million population hailing from the Indian sub-continent, the new host city was nearer home.

The actor, who is the brand ambassador of IIFA, said he would definitely make a trip abroad to promote the event if his ''health permits.'' However, to a poser on reports that his illness had recurred, the Big B, clad in white cotton shirt, jeans and designer sun glasses, shot back saying, ''How do I look!'' However, Bachchan, who had performed last year in Amsterdam on stage along with son Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai, said he will not be performing this time.

He said IIFA was not just an awards function but a weekend full of activities like conferences to promote business and tourism, film festival, a film premier, sporting activity to raise funds for cine workers and technicians and interactions between the Indian film industry and representatives of the film world from the host country. ''The number of Indian tourists to the cities where IIFA has been held, has gone up every year,'' he said.

The megastar noted with pride that the IIFA, since its inception six years ago in London, has promoted the concept of Indian cinema to the world.

Replying to questions on whether he expects his movie 'Black' to sweep the awards, Amitabh, who staredrs alongwith Rani Mukherji in the film said, ''Naturally I would expect the film to get good votes because I was a part of it. But, the voting by the film industry is a secret and democratic process.'' Bachchan has won all the film awards announced so far for his performance in the film.

The FICCI-IIFA global business convention would again be the highlight of this year's weekend activities. As many as 13 awards in the popular category and 12 in technical would be given away, apart from the special awards. The nominations and dates of the IIFA weekend in Dubai would be announced later, he said.

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