Jacqueline bags IIFA Award

Sri Lankan born Indian actress Jacqueline Fernandez jointly won the Best Debut Female Actor award with Mahie Gill at the 11th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards which concluded at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium Saturday. Jackie won the award for her debut movie Aladin while Mahie bagged the award for her role in Dev D.

Rajkumar Hirani’s comedy film 3 idiots swept the board by clinching 16 awards including the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Performance in a Negative Role and others.

Upon release, the movie broke all opening box office records in India. It also holds the record for being the highest grossing movie of all time in India. The movie which is based on three students at a renowned engineering college had been nominated in 12 of the 13 main categories at the awards ceremony.

Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan won the Best Actor award for his performance as a progeria-afflicted child in Paa while the Best Actress award was jointly shared by Kareena Kapoor and Vidya Balan for their roles in 3 Idiots and Paa.

Top Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Govinda, Anil Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif and others took part in the performances while actors Sanjaya Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Irrfan Khan, Neha Dhupia, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dia Mirza, Anupam Kher, Malaika Arora Khan, Sharman Joshi, Omi Vaidya and cricketers Mohammad Kaif, Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya took part in handing out awards.

IIFA 2010 winners

Best Film : Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 3 Idiots

Best Director : Rajkumar Hirani (3 Idiots)

Best Leading Role (Male) : Amitabh Bachchan (Paa)

Best Leading Role (Female) : Kareena Kapoor (3 Idiots)

Vidya Balan (Paa)

Best Supporting Actor (Male) : Sharman Joshi (3 Idiots)

Best Supporting Actress (Female) : Divya Dutta (Dilli 6)

Best Performance in a Negative Role : Boman Irani (3 Idiots)

Best Performance in a Comic Role : Sanjay Dutt (All the Best)

Debut Actor of the Year (Male) : Omi Vaidya (3 Idiots)

Jackky Bhagnani

(Kal Kissne Dekha)

Debut Actress of the Year (Female) : Jacqueline Fernandez (Aladin)

Mahie Gill (Dev D)

Best Playback Singer (Male) : Shaan for Behti Hawa Sa

Tha Who (3 Idiots)

Best Playback Singer (Female) : Kavita Seth for Ek Tara

(Wake Up Sid)

Award winning filmmakers like Rakesh Roshan also graced the occasion. The Micromax IIFA awards was hosted by Lara Dutta, Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh.

One of the highlights of the event was unveiling the world’s biggest cinematic themed theatrical musical extravaganza, Kingdom of Dream’s Zangoora, the gypsy prince. Veteran filmmaker J Om Prakash, maternal grandfather of Hrithik Roshan, and yesteryear actress Zeenat Aman were felicitated with the Lifetime Achievement award while Anil Kapoor walked away with the Outstanding International Commitment award for putting Indian cinema in the global map through international projects like Slumdog Millionaire and 24.

Special awards were also handed out to Vivek Oberoi and Salman Khan for their roles towards global warming and habitat for humanity which will fund the construction of 100 houses in the North and rehabilitate child soldiers.

Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne and wife, First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa, Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Economic Development Deputy Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena and wife and Parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa graced the star studded event.

Speaking at the event Abeywardena said that IIFA is the emblem of solidarity and unity between India and Sri Lanka.

“IIFA is a window of a great opportunity for all. Sri Lanka has a strong Indian influence. Their language, culture, literature and political leaders such as Javahallal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi have had an impact on us. With three decades of terrorism the country is looking towards the dawn of a peaceful era. We had only two months to prepare for the IIFA Weekends and awards. It would not have been possible to stage the mega event if not for the commitment of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa,” he said.

The IIFA team also announced that IIFA 2011 will be held in Toronto, Canada.

Daily News – By Ruwini Jayawardana