17th IIFA Awards: Bajirao Mastani Is The Big Winner

Madrid: Indian historical epic Bajirao Mastani swept the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) early Sunday, taking home awards for Best Director for Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Best Supporting Actress for Priyanka Chopra and Best Male Actor for leading man Ranveer Singh.

Bajirao Mastani led the nominations this year with 16 nominations. And when the results were announced, it also was the leader with 13 wins.

The movie, which stars Ranveer as 18th century Maratha warrior Bajirao, picked up nine other technical awards at the IIFA, including for choreography and best cinematography. It was Ranveer’s second IIFA award, the first was won by him in 2010 for Band Baaja Baaraat in the category of Star Debut of the Year (Male).

It was Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s fourth IIFA award. He previously won the Best Director award for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in 1999, Devdas in 2003 and Black in 2006.

The Best Film award went to Bajrangi Bhaijaan starring Salman Khan, whose character embarks on a journey to reunite a mute six-year-old Pakistani girl stuck in India with her parents in Pakistan.

Deepika Padukone bagged the Best Actress award for Piku. It was Deepika’s third IIFA award. She has previously won Star Debut of the Year (Female) in 2007 for Om Shanti Om and Best Actress award for Chennai Express in 2013.

Anil Kapoor Won the Best Supporting Actor award for Dil Dhadakne Do. It was also Anil’s third IIFA Award. He previously won the Best Supporting Actor award Best Actor in a Comic role award in 1999, both for Biwi No.1.

For Priyanka, it was also her third IIFA. This was definitely the hattrick year for everyone. Priyanka previously won the Star Debut of the Year (Female) for Andaaz in 2003, and in 2008, she won the Best Actress award for Fashion.

Sridevi, considered by many to be the first female superstar of Hindi cinema, was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award.

The co-hosts of the show, actors Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor, arrived on the stage for the start of ceremony — which got underway two hours behind schedule - riding donkeys.

In the opening ceremony, actor Hrithik Roshan, accompanied by dozens of dancers, performed the flamenco-themed song Senorita from his 2011 film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a road movie shot largely in Spain.

Spain is seeking to diversify its tourism base beyond the traditional northern European sun-seekers that account for the bulk of its visitors and officials hope hosting the awards will draw more Indian visitors. Madrid city hall was illuminated with the colours of the Indian flag over the weekend in honour of the awards.

The broadcast of the awards attracts approximately 800 million viewers worldwide.

Launched in 2000 at the Millennium Dome in London, other cities to have hosted the glitzy event include Dubai, Bangkok, Singapore and Toronto. It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year

List of Winners:

Best Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female): Deepika Padukone for Piku

Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male): Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani

Best Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Bajirao Mastani

Best Story: K. V. Vijayendra Prasad for Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Woman of The Year: Priyanka Chopra

Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Female): Priyanka Chopra for Bajirao Mastani

Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Male): Anil Kapoor for Dil Dhadakne Do

Best Playback Singer (Female): Monali Thakur for Moh Moh Ke Dhaage

Best Playback Singer (Male): Papon for Moh Moh Ke Dhaage

Best Debut (Female): Bhumi Pednekar for Dum Laga Ke Haisha

Best Debut (Male): Vicky Kaushal for Masaan

Best Debut Jodi: Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty for Hero

Best Performance in a Comic Role: Deepak Dobriyal for Tanu Weds Manu Returns

Best Performance in a Negative Role: Darshan Kumar for NH 10

Best Music Direction: Amaal Mallik, Meet Bros Anjjan, Ankit Tiwari for Roy

Best Background Score: Sanchit Balhara for Bajirao Mastani

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