Alia, Hrithik, Madhavan Get Top Awards; Lifetime Honor For Kamal At IIFA

ABU DHABI, (IANS) – After sweeping the technical awards at IIFA 2023, ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’ continued its winning run on May 27 night, with Alia Bhatt getting Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female).

The film’s producer, Jayantilal Gada, received the award on Alia’s behalf, as the actor’s maternal grandfather, Narendra Razdan, is reportedly not well.

Ajay Devgn’s ‘Drishyam 2‘ got the Best Film trophy and the honor for Best Director went to R. Madhavan for ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’.

Hrithik Roshan, meanwhile, bagged the trophy for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his turbo-charged performance in ‘Vikram Vedha’, which also starred Saif Ali Khan.

‘Vikram Vedha’ is an official Hindi remake of the Tamil film with the same title, which featured R. Madhavan and Vijay Sethupathi in the lead roles.

Hrithik said in his acceptance speech: “I have lived with Vedha for many years now. It began right here in Abu Dhabi. I gave my first shot as Vedha here … it feels like life has come full circle to me. Vedha helped me unleash the madness inside me … Thank you universe and thank you Vedha for helping me discover that madness and helping me discover the strength to hold that madness.”

Celebrated actor-filmmaker Kamal Haasan received a standing ovation when he was honored for Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema. Singer and music composer A.R. Rahman gave the award to Kamal, who was applauded by all present, starting with Salman Khan.

Accepting the golden trophy, Kamal expressed his gratitude and said: “I grew up in cinema … I came here when I was three and half years old. … You have been kind enough to allow me to survive till this stage … I’m very thankful and humbled.” Kamal started as a child artiste in the 1960 Tamil film ‘Kalathur Kannamma’.

Senior actor Anil Kapoor also received an award — for Performance in A Supporting Role (Male) for his part in ‘JugJugg Jeeyo’.

The big winners were the fantasy drama ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ and ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. The awards that went to ‘Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva’ included the ones for Best Playback Singer (Shreya Ghoshal, female, and Arijit Singh, male) and for Best Supporting Actor (Female) for Mouni Roy.

Late Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan’s son, Babil Khan, won the Best Debut (Male) award for the film ‘Qala’, and shared it with Santanu Maheshwari, who starred in ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’. Khushali Kumar won Best Debut (Female) for ‘Dhoka Around the Corner’.