Promotion of Bollywood Film 'Mission Istanbul' was recently held during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) fashion extravaganza news conference in Mumbai.

Present at the occasion were Bollywood stars Vivek Oberoi, Zayed Khan, Shweta and Niketan Dhir and leading fashion designers Vikram Phadnis and Manish Malhotra.

Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor, Sunil Shetty and Shabbir Boxwala have jointly produced the film 'Mission Istanbul' which is written and directed by Apoorva Lakhia, who is known for his films like Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost, Ek Ajnabee and Shootout at Lokhandwala.

Apoorva Lakhia's film stars Vivek Oberoi, Shriya Saran, Zayed Khan, Sunil Shetty and Shabbir Ahluwalia besides many others.

Mission Istanbul is the story of a journalist being played by Bollywood actor Zayed Khan who is offered a job by Suniel Shetty in Istanbul.

Zayed Khan who had put on 11 kilograms to weigh 75 kilograms for the first time in his life spoke about his hectic workout schedule at the behest of Apoorva Lakhia.

"Yes, I have really gained weight for this film but it was only on the request of my director at the end of the day these three months were very painful. I had to really workout double and eat the right foods and not associate to any chocolates or to any intoxicating drinks.

So it was really hard for me considering I love life and I love to live. I have many good habits as I do have bad," said Zayed.

Vivek Oberoi who made his debut in Ram Gopal Varma's film Company said that he had really worked hard for this film and was excited about it too.

"We are very excited as we have worked very hard for the film 'Mission Istanbul' which is releasing on July 11.

As you all know that IFFA, is a big platform for interaction with media and with our fans. We are happy that 'Mission Istanbul' will be showcased on the big screen and we all will be doing live performances on the music of the film and will be promoting its songs.

So we will be performing on the stage and we are very excited about it," said Vivek.

Music of the film has been rendered by Annu Malik, which is slated for a July release.

This year IIFA Weekend 2008 is being held from June 6-8 in Bangkok. The highlight of this year's event will be the spectacular Idea IIFA Awards, which are considered amongst the most-watched global annual events.

IIFA is a movement that brings together the worlds of Indian and International cinema and business on a common global platform.