MUMBAI: Zee Cine Award, an award ceremony that celebrates excellence in the Indian Cinema is being held in association with Dubai Media City at Dubai on 26 February 2004.

Staged outside India for the first time, the awards will be held before an audience of over 8,000 and is supposed to reach an international television audience of hundreds of millions.

The four-hour event boasts of attendence from over 200 leading Indian film actors, actresses, producers, directors, music directors. The live performances from megastars including Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan and Lara Dutta, says a company release.

The winners willl be selected through a widely held voting process. Launched in 1998, the sixth edition of the awards will honour 32 winners in different categories. 

Says Zee Cinema, and Special Projects Manager business head Yogesh Radhakrishnan, " We are happy to announce that Zee Cine Awards will be held in Dubai this Year. Over the years Zee Cine Awards have encouraged brilliance and talent in the Indian film Industry since it was established. It is also a ceremony where the fans of Indian cinema eagerly vote for their favorite performances making it the most democratic awards of its kind."

"The Indian film industry is now a global phenomenon with a fan base now extends not only to Indians, but to different nationalities of the world. This is why we have decided to move the awards from India to Dubai - a truly cosmopolitan and international setting for this prestigious event. Our focus to take Zee Cine Awards 2004 to the international platform is to showcase the best of Indian cinema to the world. With Zee Cine awards 2004 we will be able to provide the impetus of the crossover of the Indian cinema to the global audiences and delight the Indian Diaspora with the grandest celebration of the Indian cinema, " adds Radhakrishnan.