Get ready: the IIFA Awards, also known as the “Bollywood Oscars,” descend on Toronto this week

Organizers will be rolling out the traditional green carpet on June 25, but the hype has been building since that delightfully awkward photo op last January with noted Bollywood enthusiast Dalton McGuinty and actors Preity Zinta and Anil Kapoor (of Slumdog Millionaire fame, for those whose Bollywood knowledge stems mostly from the Danny Boyle flick). Never one to refrain from hyperbole, Kapoor told a throng of Canadian reporters that “IIFA Toronto will be the biggest landmark event [in Indian cinema] and will define the future of relationships between our two countries.” Ahem. Other celebs expected to be in attendance include Bollywood megastars Shah Rukh Khan, Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra and the Deol family.

Expect the city to pull out all the stops in welcoming India’s film community to “Bollywood West” (the ROM has already opened this exhibit of classic Bollywood movie posters), and with good reason: the event is expected to garner an international television audience of at least 600 million. There will be various lead-up festivities held throughout the GTA in the coming days, so check back throughout the week for our ongoing coverage of IIFA 2011.