(MENAFN- Arab Times) It was a night of Bollywood glamour and energy in Malaysia on Sunday at the International Indian Film Academy's (IIFA) annual awards ceremony. India's biggest stars descended on the Malaysian capital for the event - dubbed Bollywood's Oscars - dazzling the audience with the colourful musical dance numbers that India's cinema is famous for.
Almost 4,000 fans gathered at the Putra Indoor stadium, just south of Kuala Lumpur, to see screen idols like Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha and Tiger Shroff - who won the best male debut award - perform on stage.
Anushka Sharma stole the show with her sizzling dance performance during the ceremony that saw films Haider, Queen and PK scoring big wins.
Kapoor and Kangana Ranaut snapped up the male and female awards for best performance in a leading role for Haider and Queen respectively, while Rajkumar Hirani won best director for PK and Vikas Bahl's film Queen was named best picture.
Honoured
Deepika Padukone, meanwhile, was honoured with the Woman of the Year award, after a busy year with films Piku, Happy New Year and Finding Fanny.
The IIFA recognises both the artistic and technical excellence of professionals in Bollywood's Hindi cinema and always holds its awards ceremony outside of India to demonstrate Bollywood's international appeal.
"The way Indian movies are shot - filled with glamour, beautiful dance and music - is making people from Europe, China and Japan attracted to it with great interest," Mumbai-based director Shyam Shroff told AFP.
"Day by day all our traditional markets are growing by leaps and bounds. The next target of Indian movies should be the mainstream Americans," he added.
The starry fiesta began with the Bollywood celebrities sparkling on the green carpet as fans screamed and clapped with excitement.
Actress Padukone was in a maroon and gold embellished sari while Sharma was a red siren in a strapless gown.
Many of the actress opted for black, including Sinha in a backless dress and Parineeti Chopra whose strapless frock boasted an impressive train.
The awards were anchored by Bollywood's funny duo Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor.
The pair drew big laughs with their witty repartees.
The two talented actors captivated Bollywood fans by aiming their jokes at actors Anil Kapoor and Jacqueline Fernandez, as they also took a stab at censorship.
This year's event spanned three days and included film and music workshops, fashion shows, fans meet-and-greets, technical awards and media briefings of forthcoming movies.
With a viewership of almost 800 million, the IIFA Awards is India's biggest media event and also one of the world's most-watched annual entertainment shows.
With names like Hrithik Roshan, Anil Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra in attendance, the gala attracted many star-struck admirers from across the globe.
"It just gets better each year. It's a vast project with budget between $10 million and $25 million," Viraf Sarkari, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd, which promotes IIFA Weekend and Awards globally each year said.
Established in 2000, the gala was held at Genting Highlands Resort, Malaysia, in 2002.
The edition was hailed by many Bollywood fans, who consider the three-day gala to be perfect platform to meet their idols.
"Indian cinema is getting popular day by day. The fans hardly get a chance to meet the stars and the stars also find it difficult to connect with their global fans like this. IIFA is the perfect platform to bring them close to each other," he said.
The fans got a chance to catch Hrithik live in action at Pavilion mall, where he interacted with his fans and performed impromptu as well.
Before the special screening of the multi -starrer movie "Dil Dhadakne Do", fans also got to shake hands, click selfies and take autographs from their favourite celebrities like the movie's stars Priyanka, Anil, Farhan Akhtar and Anushka Sharma.
Hosted by actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Parineeti Chopra, IIFA Rocks, an exclusive music extravaganza, saw a host of musical performances by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Mika, Ankit Tiwari, Kanika Kapoor and Javed Ali. Sonakshi also displayed her singing skills at IIFA Rocks.
Winners list
* Outstanding contribution: Subhash Ghai
* Best performance in a supporting role (male): Ritesh Deshmukh for 'Ek Villain'
* Best performance in a supporting role (female): Tabu for 'Haider'
* Best regional film: Lai Bhari
* Woman of the year: Deepika Padukone
* Best story: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar & Parvez Shaikh for 'Queen'
* Best direction: Rajkumar Hirani for 'PK'
* Best performance in a leading role (female): Kangana Ranaut for 'Queen'
* Best performance in a leading role (male): Shahid Kapoor for 'Haider'
* Best picture: Queen
* Best Performance in a Negative Role: Kay Kay Menon for 'Haider'
* Best Debut € Male: Tiger Shroff for 'Heropanti'
* Best Debut € Female: Kirti Sanon for 'Heropanti'
* Best Performance in a Comic Role: Varun Dhawan for 'Main Tera Hero'
* Best Playback Singer (female): Kanika Kapoor for 'Baby doll' from 'Ragini MMS2'
* Best Playback Singer- male: Ankit Tiwari for Galliyaan from 'Ek Villian'
* Best Music: Shankar Ehsaan Loy for '2 States'
* Best Debut Direction: Sajid Nadiadwala for 'Kick' & Umang Kumar for 'Mary Kom'
* Best Costume Designing: Dolly Ahluwalia for 'Haider'
* Best Sound Mixing: Debajit Changmai for 'Haider'
* Best Action: Parvez Shaikh and Andy Armstrong for 'Bang Bang'
* Best Choreography: Ahmed Khan for Jumme Ki Raat for 'Kick'
* Best Screenplay: Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar, Parveez Shaikh for 'Queen'
* Best Dialogue Award: Abhijat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani for 'PK'
* Best Background Score: Vishal Bhardwaj for 'Haider'
* Best Cinematography: Binod Pradhan for '2 States'
* Best Editing: Anurag Kashyap and Abhijit Kokate for 'Queen'
* Special Effects (Visuals): Reupal Rawal from Prime Focus for 'Kick'
* Best Production Design: Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray for 'Haider'
* Best Sound Design: Shajith Koyeri 'Haider'
* Best Song Recording: Eric Pillai for the song Teri Galiyaan for 'Ek Villian'
* Best Make-Up: Preetisheel Singh and Clover Wootton for 'Haider'
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