Singapore: One of 2011’s biggest hits, ‘Zindagi Milegi Na Dobara’ won the most coveted awards as the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend came to a glittering end on Saturday night at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The film, directed by Zoya Akhtar won Best Film and Best Director among others.
The evening kicked off on a musical note as awards were given to the best of Bollywood.
Oscar-winner A.R. Rahman was honoured with the Best Music Direction for his score in the film ‘Rockstar’ while Irshad Kamil, who wrote the song ‘Nadaan Parindey’ received the Best Lyrics. Singer Shreya Ghoshal was awarded the Best Playback Singer for the song ‘Teri Meri’ in the Salman Khan starrer ‘Bodyguard’.
Check out our special coverage of the IIFA Awards
The awards night was a culmination of three days’ celebration as Bollywood stars jetted into the island country for the weekend.
Earlier in the evening, Hrithik Roshan-starrer ‘Zindagi…’, which led the nominations list at 14, walked away with the award for Best Story for Akhtar and Reema Katgi.
“[I] wanted to be a writer even before becoming a filmmaker, so this award is special to me,” said Akhtar.
The night would turn out to be a special one for her, not least because her brother, actor-director Farhan Akhtar, played host along with heartthrob Shahid Kapoor.
The pair, who took turn making some good-natured mockery of their colleagues, were in their element.
Bipasha Basu and newcomer Sonakshi Sinha performed dance routines earlier in the evening as another newcomer, Parineeti Chopra, walked away with a Best Debut (Female) award.
“Sorry, I was asked to be sophisticated but there is too much Punjabi blood in me," she said as she screamed in joy. Chopra won the award for her role in ‘Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl’.
The evening also saw heartfelt tributes being paid by director Ramesh Sippy and actress Priyanka Chopra.
Sippy, best known for the classic film ‘Sholay’, was given the Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema honour. The 65-year-old dedicated his award to the memory of his late father and to late Bollywood star Shammi Kapoor who, he said, agreed to work with a first-time director.
Chopra meanwhile honoured actor Rekha as she danced to some of her most iconic songs over the years. Also honoured with an Outstanding Achievement, Rekha later joined Chopra on stage for an impromptu jig.
Visibly emotional, she hugged the younger actress warmly and said her award was for “all the young actors today”.
Heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor and co-star Nargis Fakhri were judged Hottest Pair for their roles in ‘Rockstar’ while actor Riteish Deshmukh won the Best Comic Role award for ‘Double Dhamaal’. Interestingly, the actor, who has hosted the IIFA Awards for the past two years, was not in attendance. Co-star Arshad Warsi received the award on his behalf.
Actor Prakash Raj was given the Best Negative Role awards for his role in ‘Singham’. The actor, a well-known face in south India thanked Bollywood for accepting him as its own.
The awards night has now ended.
- Check out tabloid! on Monday for all the behind-the-scenes gossip and pictures from one of the biggest nights for Bollywood.
- Catch all the colour and action from Bollywood’s biggest night from our live tweets on @GulfNewsTabloid
