Andre Timmins, founder-director of IIFA, said the 2026 IIFA would be hosted in Southeast Asia in late August

On: May 5, 2026 3:40 PM

IIFA 2026 will be hosted in Southeast Asia in late August, not Europe, according to founder-director Andre Timmins. The event has historically generated business for Bollywood.

Along with Lachmi Deb Roy of Firstpost, Andre Timmins, founder and head of IIFA, said that the event will take place in Asia again because of global factors. Andre also talks about how, for the past 25 years, IIFA has been bringing business to the entertainment industry by, among other things, setting up ways for countries to work together and spreading the word about Indian film around the world.

IIFA’s job for the past 25 years has been to bring in business for the industry. So, everywhere we go, we think about how Bollywood can benefit, whether it’s through funding or other kinds of benefits. There are tax breaks for the film business all over the world. In London, the tax breaks are 35%, in Thailand and Malaysia they are 30%, in Georgia in Europe they are 15%, and in Australia and Abu Dhabi they are 15%.

The question here is how IIFA plans to bring in business for the sector. But this is just soft power. That’s why you never hear any of us talk like that. For example, when Ranbir Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, and Jacqueline Fernandez’s character Roy was shot in Malaysia, IIFA did a lot to help them. When Don and Krrish were shot in Singapore with Rakesh Roshan at the same time, they each got a million dollars.

We stood by them. We helped experts all over the business. Don and Shah Rukh Khan were shot in Malaysia. IIFA always looks at what can be good for the industry from the point of view of the industry.

Because where there’s business, there’s also the industry and the stars. Because all of our stars make their own films these days. They have their own parts to do. In this way, they also look at it more from a business point of view. IIFA has always been a soft power that brings in money for the entertainment business.

If you’ve all done so much to promote Bollywood, what do you think the future holds for the entertainment business?

I think the entertainment business as a whole is doing very well. This includes movies, OTT content makers, content influencers, games, audiovisual, and so on. With AI coming in, a lot of new opportunities are opening up around the world for people who want to be content influencers and still make money.

There is a big movie coming out about Ramayana. There are a lot of films coming out, like Dhurandhar and Toxic. If you look at Shahrukh’s movie King, it’s also huge. That being said, I believe movie theatres will remain open.

In this case, each job is very different. The traits are different, and the organisers want to look at different things. So, in my opinion, big screens and IMAX will never go away.

India has IFFA UTSAVAM going on right now, but when is the main IIFA?

Telangana will host IIFA Utsavam in October. We’re all excited about that because the government of Telangana wants companies and film people to move or set up shop there. Telangana is getting a lot of new movie companies, so they want to promote the business as a place where films are made. They have Ramoji and Annapurna Studios, which makes it a great place for us to go from the south, since this year’s big IIFA awards will be held in Asia.

We haven’t said where the trip is going yet. But we will let everyone know about it between May 7th and 10th. It will probably happen at the end of August in Asia, after the country is locked down. We were meant to go to Europe, but things aren’t going as planned right now, so we’ll save that trip for next year and instead go somewhere in Asia, which will be fun.

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How does IIFA compare to other award shows around the world?

Its goals are very different from those of any local awards because it is owned by a TV station, newspaper, or media production company. But I keep telling everyone the same thing: if you want to work in the business, you have to work in it on the ground. You could be the boss of a big TV station, a media house, or anything else. At some point, you had to get down to earth, party, meet the stars, and figure out what they need. And it’s not just a one-night stand or you come. I would say that this is the only group of people in the world for whom money doesn’t matter.

Are there any new things that IIFA has planned for the 26th edition?

At IIFA, we will be celebrating a movie from outside of Hollywood. Like what you see in the Oscars in a different language. This is a new thing that we are doing that is similar. Indian movie stars will be coming to the IIFA South. You can see Salman making a movie with a South Indian director. Atlee is making a movie with Deepika and Allu Arjun. Both theatres work together on a lot of projects.