BANGKOK: The 19th Indian International Film Awards was held in Bangkok on Sunday, with Vidya Balan's "Tumhari Sulu" emerging as the winner for Best Picture of 2017.
The film revolves around a middle-class housewife Sulu (played by Balan) whose life changes when she becomes the host of a late-night radio show.
The award ceremony, held at Bangkok's Siam Niramit theatre last night, was hosted by director Karan Johar and actor Riteish Deshmukh.
Irrfan Khan, who is currently recuperating from NeuroEndocrine Tumour, was adjudged the Best Actor for his movie, "Hindi Medium" where he played the role of a father trying to get his child admitted in a posh English medium school in Delhi.
His "Haider" co-star Shraddha Kapoor accepted the award on his behalf.
He was nominated alongside Ranbir Kapoor for "Jagga Jasoos", Adil Hussain for "Mukti Bhawan", Rajkummar Rao for "Newton" and Akshay Kumar for "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha".
Sridevi was posthumously awarded the Best Female Actor for her role as a vengeful mother in "Mom". Her husband, Boney Kapoor received the award on her behalf.
Other nominees included Vidya, Alia Bhatt (Badrinath Ki Dulhania), Zaira Wasim (Secret Superstar) and Bhumi Pednekar (Shubh Mangal Saavdhan).
Saikat Chowdhary went on to bag the best director award for "Hindi Medium".
He faced a stiff competition from Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari (Bareilly Ki Barfi), Anurag Basu (Jagga Jasoos), Amit V Masurkar (Newton) and Suresh Triveni (Tumhari Sulu).
Zaira's co-star from "Secret Superstar" Meher Vij bagged the Best Female Supporting Actor while Nawazzudin Siddiqui won the Best Male Supporting Actor Award for his performance in "Mom".
He received the award from veteran star Rekha and the visibly emotional actor dedicated it to his co-star Sridevi, who tragically passed away in February this year at the age of 54.
"Newton", which was India's official entry to Oscars this year, won the award for Best Story for director Masurkar.
The award was presented to him by actor Dia Mirza and Raj Nayak.
Arijit Singh was announced as the Best Playback Singer (Male) for the song "Hawayein" from "Jab Harry Met Sejal", while Meghna Mishra won the Best Playback Singer (Female) Award for the track "Main Kaun Hoon" from "Secret Superstar".
The Best Music Director Award went to the trio of Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi and Akhil Sachdeva for "Badrinath Ki Dulhania".
Tributes were also paid to the fallen legends of the film industry- Sridevi, Vinod Khanna and Shashi Kapoor.
Anupam Kher, who has over 500 films to his credit, was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the ceremony.
His frequent collaborator, Anil Kapoor, introduced the honour and shared an interesting story with the audience.
Kapoor said he had also auditioned for the same role in David O'Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook" but it ultimately went to Kher.
Here’s the list of IIFA Awards 2018 winners:
Best Picture – Tumhari Sulu
Best Direction – Saket Chaudhary (Hindi Medium)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Female – Late Sridevi (Mom)
Best Actor in a Leading Role – Male – Irrfan Khan (Hindi Medium)
Best Supporting Actor – Female – Meher Vij (Secret Superstar)
Best Supporting Actor – Male – Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Mom)
Best Story – Amit V Masurkar (Newton)
Best Debut Director – Konkona Sen Sharma (A death in the Gunj)
Best Music Direction – Amaal Mallik, Tanishk Bagchi & Akhil Sachdeva (Badrinath Ki Dulhania)
Best Playback Singer Female – Meghna Mishra (Main Kaun Hoon – Secret Superstar)
Best Playback Singer Male – Arijit Singh (Hawayein – Jab Harry Met Sejal)
Best Lyrics – Manoj Muntashir (Mere Rashke Qamar – Baadshaho)
Style Icon Award – Kriti Sanon
Next IIFA give away winner – Arjun Kapoor
(With inputs from online desk)