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Bollywood called to arms against climate change at awards extravaganza in Florida

Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor (right) and Shahdid Kapoor during a Premiere and Workshop at the Tampa Theater on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actors Anil Kapoor (right) and Shahdid Kapoor during a Premiere and Workshop at the Tampa Theater on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood star Anil Kapoor (right) and an unidentified background dancer engage the mayor of Tampa Bob Buckhorn (centre) into a dance to the tune of the IIFA anthem Do Da Tampa on stage during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood star Anil Kapoor (right) and the mayor of Tampa Bob Buckhorn dancing to the tune of the IIFA anthem Do Da Tampa on stage during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra (right) and nominee for Best Performance in a Leading Role, Bollywood actress Sonakshi Sinha, on stage during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actor Gulshan Grover posing on the green carpet at the Tampa Convention Center ahead of IIFA Rocks on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi, with by actor Siddharth Kannan, addressing the audience during a Premiere and Workshop at the Tampa Theater on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actors (from left) Anil Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Priyanka Chopra and singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan listening to an address during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Nominee for Best Performance in a Leading Role, Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan, surrounded by fans and members of the media at a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan (centre), with actor Anil Kapoor (left), presenting his latest release during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi posing with his family on the green carpet at the Tampa Convention Center ahead of IIFA Rocks on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actor Randhir Kapoor on the green carpet at the Tampa Convention Center ahead of IIFA Rocks on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu on the green carpet at the Tampa Convention Center ahead of IIFA Rocks on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
Bollywood actress Vaani Kapoor arriving for the IIFA Rocks event at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
On stage during a press conference at the Hilton Downtown Hotel, (from left) US actor Stephen Baldwin, singer Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Bollywood actresses Sonakshi Sinha and Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra and Bollywood star Anil Kapoor dance to the tune of the IIFA anthem Do Da Tampa on the second day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Tampa, Florida, on April 24, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP

TAMPA, FLORIDA (AFP) - Bollywood's glitterati on Thursday heard an appeal to use their star power to fight climate change as they opened their first awards ceremony in the United States.

Bringing a sombre note in the midst of Bollywood's trademark festive dancing, Indian scientist Rajendra Pachauri, who leads the Nobel Prize-winning United Nations climate panel, took the stage in Tampa, Florida, to urge stars to channel their influence for the planet.

"We are all residents of spaceship Earth and anything we do - anything that happens on that spaceship - has implications for everybody else," said Pachauri, who was invited to Bollywood's annual awards extravaganza as a special guest.

"What I would like to urge all the stars who are here is to see that they associate themselves with the larger problems that humanity, and all living species of the world, face," he told Bollywood celebrities assembled in a hotel ballroom.

Pachauri, chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which recently issued its latest stark warning, said that average sea levels have risen 19cm over the past century and could rise as high as 98cm by the end of the century without action.

He said he spoke before the Bollywood ceremony to Florida Governor Rick Scott, a Republican who has expressed doubt about the science on climate change, and told him that the coastal state was "particularly vulnerable."

The International Indian Film Academy awards will take place tomorrow at the 66,000-capacity stadium of American football's Tampa Bay Buccaneers after several days of events including a forum with Indian investors.

The award organisers each year choose a site outside India in hopes of showing Bollywood's global clout, but had never before held the event in the US, even though the country has become Indian cinema's largest overseas market.

Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra said the awards were an opportunity to show the US "what a celebration our culture is, what a celebration our cinema is, how our cinema transcends borders."

Tampa pushed to bring the awards, whose organisers threw a dance party in a park on Wednesday in hopes of reaching out to the public.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn voiced hope that Tampa would become a household name for Bollywood lovers and an Indian investment destination. He insisted that his city - which has historic roots in the American South - has embraced the awards and Indian culture.

"When I walk down the street and hear somebody with an Alabama accent say 'namaskar,' I know we've come a mighty long way," he said, folding his hands in a traditional Bollywood greeting.

Then, in what would be an apt ending to a Bollywood film, he took to the stage and strutted his best moves alongside superstar Anil Kapoor. "Now my political career is over. Maybe I can run for office in Mumbai," he quipped.

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