It was a full house at the Etihad Arena located in Abu Dhabi’s leading entertainment destination Yas Island as Bollywood stars gathered for a power-packed evening, celebrating Hindi cinema. The much-awaited International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) weekend and awards took place on June 3-4, kickstarting with the technical awards given away on June 3, followed by the main award ceremony, which took place on June 4.
Making a comeback after a 2-year gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the IIFA 2022 edition was among the most highly anticipated events. Originally meant to be held from May 19-21, the show was postponed following the demise of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the second President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.
The night was a star-studded affair with India’s top celebrities like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Sara Ali Khan, Vicky Kaushal, Shahid Kapoor, Arjun Rampal gracing the IIFA green carpet with their A-game on. Donning attires from their favourite designers, the actors were thrilled to have gathered in person for an award for the first time since the pandemic hit.
Among the most-anticipated performances of the evening was Nora Fatehi’s dance medley on the actor’s chart-busting tunes such as ‘Kusu Kusu’ and ‘Dance Meri Rani’. The Moroccan-Canadian actor brought on-stage 6-year-old Kashvi Majmundar, a Dubai-resident and die-hard Nora Fatehi fan, who shared the stage with the actor performing her viral hooksteps.
From Sara Ali Khan grooving on ‘Chaka Chak’ to Ananya Pandey bringing the best of ‘Gehraiyaan’ on the IIFA stage, the showstopper performances also included Abhishek Bachchan performing to his nostalgic numbers in the presence of his wife Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and daughter Aradhya Bachchan. The show concluded with Shahid Kapoor’s trailblazing tribute to late singer Bappi Lahiri, who passed away earlier this year on February 15.
Hosted by Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Manish Paul, the night at IIFA 2022 was packed with award ceremonies, head-turning live performances and a truckload of pap-worthy moments for the Hindi film fanatics to revel in.
The prominent awards of the night were bagged by Vicky Kaushal and Kriti Sanon for their performances in ‘Sardar Udham’ and ‘Mimi’, respectively.
Kaushal won the Best Actor Male in a Leading Role, expressing a heartfelt thank you to his parents and wife, Katrina Kaif, who was not present in the audience on the night. “Thank you, Ma for that faith, I love you. Thank you, Papa, for being the pillar of strength. My brother Sunny, my beautiful wife Katrina… This is for the people who made me who I am,” said Kaushal, who played the titular role in director Shoojit Sircar’s biopic.
Sanon, who won the Best Actor Female in a Leading Role for playing a surrogate in comedy-drama ‘Mimi’ alongside Pankaj Tripathi and Sai Tamhankar, said, “I came on the stage to receive my first IIFA Award for my debut performance eight years back. It has taken me eight years to come back to me … it is my first ‘Best Actress award.”
The Best Picture category was bagged by Hiroo Yash Johar, Karan Johar, Apoorva Mehta, Shabbir Boxwala, Ajay Shah, Himanshu Gandhi for the Sidharth Malhotra-starrer ‘Shershaah’. Movie director Vishnuvaradhan also won in the Best Director category for the same.
• Performance In A Supporting Role (Female) – Sai Tamhankar (Mimi)
• Performance In A Supporting Role (Male) – Pankaj Tripathi (Ludo)
• Music Direction – A.R. Rahman (Atrangi Re) Tanishk Bagchi, Jasleen Royal, Javed-Mohsin, Vikram Montrose, B Praak, Jaani (Shershaah)
• Playback Singer (Female) – Asees Kaur for Raataan Lambiyan (Shershaah)
• Playback Singer (Male) – Jubin Nautiyal for Raataan Lambiyan (Shershaah)
• Best Story (Original) – Anurag Basu (Ludo)
• Best Story (Adapted) – Kabir Khan, Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan (Based on ICC World Cup 1983) (83)
• Lyrics – Kausar Munir for the song Lehra Do (83)
• Best Debut Female – Sharvari Wagh (Bunty Aur Babli 2)
• Best Debut Male – Ahan Shetty (Tadap 2)
