IIFA Awards 2022: All the excitement from Bollywood's biggest night — as it happened

Last night, we were here at the same spot covering all the action from IIFA Rocks, a night dedicated to fashion and music. The awards in technical categories were handed out along with dazzling performances from the likes of rappers Yo Yo Honey Singh and Guru Randhawa. Neha Kakkar, Dhvani Bhanushali, Devi Sri Prasad and Zahrah S Khan sang their ways into our hearts.

But the real deal is tonight. The winner of popular awards including Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Film will be honoured tonight. Stars including Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sara Ali Khan and Ananya Panday are expected to stride down the green carpet.

It’s also a first for talents like Panday, who will be one of the star performers of the night. She told Gulf News that she had been rehearsing hard for more than a month but will play it cool on stage.

“This is like a dream come true for me. I have grown up watching the IIFAs and I can’t tell you how excited I am,” said Panday.

But for this Gulf News journalist, it isn’t the first time. After having covered nine editions of this travelling awards show in several parts of the globe, it’s 10th tenth time covering this snazzy and bombastic Bollywood spectacle.

While it’s likely to be a star-studded affair, news has just trickled in that ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ star Kartik Aryan, who was scheduled to perform live tonight, has tested COVID-19 positive. The actor took to his social media to update his fans about his health.

A little birdie also told us that actress Nargis Fakhri will be dressed up in a glittering creation by Dubai-based designer Michael Cinco. The actress is at his atelier for the final fitting. We can’t wait to see her dressed in a glittering Cinco creation. He has earlier dressed up Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at the Cannes Film Festival.