The IIFA celebrations kicked off today with some of Bollywood's biggest celebrities making a bee line to this small Chinese town for the weekend as megastar Amitabh Bachchan declared open the extravaganza.

The International Indian Film Academy completes it's decade this year and megastar Amitabh Bachchan inaugurated the three-day-long event by planting a lotus, the official flower of both India and Macau, a special administrative region of China.

The awards are often called 'Bollywood's Oscars' but the 66-year-old actor said that he did not subscribe to the view because he does not approve of the constant comparison with Hollywood.

He added that while the Indian film industry may not be able to match upto Hollywood's technological polish, but had enough talent to compete with the West.

"Why can't we be proud of what we are doing rather than comparing ourself with others. The west is west and the east is east. Let both of them exist in their own world. What is wrong with the Indians?," the actor said.

The actor who was voted the 'Star of the Millennium' by BBC in 2000 also unveiled his wax statue flown in especially from London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum to Macau for the IIFA celebrations.

The actor, flanked by his son Abhishek Bachchan and daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, unveiled the statue at a green carpet event.

The waxwork remained a star attraction on the green carpet with other Bollywood stars and dignitaries making a stop to get a picture with Bachchan's wax replica.

Bollywood A-listers turned up for the event, including Sonam Kapoor, Anil Kapoor,Sushmita Sen, Govinda and Neil Nitin Mukesh.

But it was 'Slumdog Millionaire's teenage stars Tanay Chheda, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala who stole the show from the stars and were an instant hit with the crowd.

Despite the fanfare, the tenth edition of the IIFA awards will be a watered down affair compared to previous years as some of the biggest stars are missing from the fray.

Superstars Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir Khan as well as Bollywood's leading ladies Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra have given the event a miss.