Red carpet rolled out for Vancouver Bollywood gala

The Times of India Film Awards main event was held Saturday nightinVancouver, where fanshad been crowding outside downtown hotelsfordays with thehopes of catching a glimpseof their favourite celebrities.

Theprovince said it would spend $9.5 millionto bring the show here in the hopes of a bigger return, expecting that more than$20 million will flow into the local economy.

• Bollywood fever builds in Vancouver for film award show

Restaurants and hotels around the city have been seeing a boost in spring business, but Tourism Vancouver says the story will also be told through longer-term effects.

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Vikram Vij,owner of Vij'srestaurant which is cateringTOIFA's red carpet event says he,too, isexcited at the international exposure the event is bringing toVancouver attractions.

"[I'm] so excited. It doesn't get any better than this. I mean, to showcase Vancouver to India,"Vijsaid.

B.C.'s faltering film industrycould also benefit, with so many of Bollywood'slite here.

Laura Ballance, spokeswoman for theTimes of India Film Awards, says a number of filmmakers who havenever been to B.C. before have been getting to know the local industry during their trips here for the awards.

"A lot of the greatest directors and producers of Bollywood are here and they are doing nothing but set location," she said.

The three days of TOIFA events in Vancouver began Thursday nightwith a musical extravaganza at the Pacific Coliseumat Hastings Park.

It's estimated more than30,000 peopleattendedthe main awards show Saturday night at BC Place.

Host Ranbir Kapoor, who was introduced as "the heartthrob of millions, his awesomeness," took the stage with co-host Anushka Sharma in a glittery act.

Shah Rukh Khan, who had the audience bursting into frenzied applause every time his image flashed on the jumbotron.

He gave a sweat-soaked performance that had the audience on their feet as the clock struck midnight, but still ended up losing out in the Best Actor category to Kapoor.

Barfi, a film about a deaf and mute man caught in a love triangle, won Best Picture, while the film's director, Anurag Basu, was also victorious in his category.

Priyanka Chopra won the Best Actress award for her work on the same film.