BBC Yorkshire & Lincolnshire
In June 2006, Christa Ackroyd was the first reporter to reveal that the 2007 International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards would be held in the UK – and most importantly, in Yorkshire. One year on, Christa Does Bollywood turned her from news presenter to Bollywood Princess, and discovered why the region was so excited about the IIFAs.
In this journey through the big events that make the Bollywood film industry and its culture so important to so many people living in Yorkshire, Christa is guided by choreographer and dancer Zoobin Surty and a range of Yorkshire’s most prominent characters.
She discovers why Hindi films play a crucial part in local culture and how Yorkshire could soon be the setting for Bollywood blockbusters; she learns local food history and charts the preparations for the IIFA awards, which brought over 30,000 people into the region.
As well as discovering the richness of local culture, food and film, Christa takes up Bollywood dance classes and learns how the professionals really do it. Guided by Zoobin and her fellow classmates, Christa’s Bollywood moves are finely honed, before the film culminates in our very own grand dance finale that sees Christa and her troupe of Bollywood dancers perform a spectacular routine in the centre of Leeds.