Team ‘Laapataa Ladies’ and Shah Rukh Khan at IIFA 2025
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
If seizing 2024’s IIFA with his impeccable wit and charisma was not enough, Shah Rukh Khan did it once again at this year’s award ceremony. After three consecutive years at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, it’s homecoming time for the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA). For the first time in Jaipur and the second year in India (the 20th awards ceremony was in Mumbai), IIFA pulled off a stunning awards night filled with everything from pleasantly surprising wins to some electrifying performances — and, of course, Shah Rukh Khan!
Like in last year’s edition, director and producer Karan Johar took the reins of co-hosting the awards ceremony and his partner in crime this year was Kartik Aaryan. The film that made the biggest mark was Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies, bagging multiple awards, including Best Editing, Lyrics, Music Direction, Film and Direction. With the number of awards the film won, Karan said he assumes the comedy-drama is the film with the most IIFA awards ever (the record is still held by Devdas (2002) and 3 Idiots (2009) with 16 awards each).
Kartik Aaryan won Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male) for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, while the Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female) was nabbed by Nitanshi Goel for Laapataa Ladies. The Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema was given to Rakesh Roshan whose dance performances with fellow veteran Rekha was one of the night’s best moments.
Madhuri Dixit
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Speaking of performances, Kareena Kapoor Khan paid a heartfelt tribute to 100 years of the legendary Raj Kapoor. Madhuri Dixit, Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon also put up stunning performances.
Unsurprisingly, it was Shah Rukh Khan who stole the show. With a small cameo from Madhuri, Shah Rukh went on to perform some of his yesteryear classics such as ‘Say Shava Shava’ and ‘Tumhe Jo Maine Dekha’, songs from Don and Chennai Express, as well as his recent hit Jawan. The performance, which started with a drone show tribute to SRK, hit a crescendo when a train set was brought on stage for the actor to get on top of it and dance to ‘Chaiyya Chaiyya’.
Here is the full list of winners:
IIFA Special Honours
Best Debut Female: Pratibha Ranta – Laapataa Ladies
Best Debut Male: Lakshya Lalwani – Kill
Best Directorial Debut: Kunal Khemu – Madgaon Express
Outstanding Achievement In Indian Cinema: Rakesh Roshan
Rakesh Roshan and Rekha
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Technical Category Winners
Cinematography: Rafey Mehmood – Kill
Screenplay: Sneha Desai – Laapataa Ladies
Dialogues: Arjun Dhawan, Aditya Dhar, Aditya Suhas Jambhale, Monal Thaakar – Article 370
Editing: Jabeen Merchant – Laapataa Ladies
Choreography: Bosco-Caesar – ‘Tauba Tauba’ from Bad Newz
Sound Design: Subash Sahoo – Kill
Sound Mixing: Subash Sahoo, Boloy Kumar Doloi, Rahul Karpe – Kill
Background Score: Achint Thakkar – Jigra
Special Effects (Visual): Red Chillies VFX – Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Kartik Aaryan
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
IIFA Awards Winners
Best Picture: Amir Khan, Kiran Rao, Jyoti Deshpande – Laapataa Ladies
Direction: Kiran Rao – Laapataa Ladies
Performance in a Leading Role (Female): Nitanshi Goel – Laapataa Ladies
Performance in a Leading Role (Male): Kartik Aaryan – Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Performance in a Supporting Role (Female): Janki Bodiwala – Shaitaan
Performance in a Supporting Role (Male): Ravi Kishan – Laapataa Ladies
Performance in a Negative Role: Raghav Juyal – Kill
Music Direction: Ram Sampath – Laapataa Ladies
Playback Singer (Male): Jubin Nautiyal – ‘Dua’ from Article 370
Playback Singer (Female): Shreya Ghoshal – ‘Ami Je Tomar 3.0’ from Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
Published – March 10, 2025 11:13 am IST