'Rang De' steals the show with Best Film at IIFA

Sheffield, June 10 (IANS) Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's runaway blockbuster "Rang De Basanti" pipped "Lage Raho Munnabhai" to win the Best Film award at the star-studded extravaganza, which began late Saturday night in Yorkshire, to honour Indian film personalities for their performances in the last year.

Exclusive Stills from IIFA

"Rang De..." won five awards, just one more than the hugely popular "Lage Raho Munnabhai", which finished a close second at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) event.

Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani was awarded the Best Director for "Lage Raho...", the Best Actor award went to Hrithik Roshan for his powerful portrayal of a superhero in "Krrish" and Rani Mukherji was the Best Actress for her intense acting in "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna".

Soha Ali Khan bagged the Best Supporting Actress award for her subdued yet composed acting in "Rang De...", while Arshad Warsi lifted the Best Supporting Actor's trophy for his rib-tickling performance in "Lage Raho...".

Tusshar Kapoor received the award of Best Actor in a Comic Role for his antics as a dumb man in "Golmaal" and Saif Ali Khan won the Best Actor in a Negative Role for his brilliant performance in "Omkara", Bollywood's adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Othello", where his character of an ambitious and scheming man earned him rave reviews.

Bachchan bahu Aishwarya and Hrithik Roshan were awarded glamour stars of the year, Mehra was the creative person of the year, Oscar-nominated director Deepa Mehta was honoured with the brightest Indian director abroad award and cricket legend Geoffrey Boycott honoured Shilpa Shetty for her poise on the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother which she ended up winning.

Hirani and Abhijit Joshi won the Best Dialogue award for "Lage Raho..." and Hirani tasted success again as he pipped others to win the Best Story award for 'Munnabhai', while Renzil D'Silva and Mehra bagged Best Screenplay for "Rang De...".

"Omkara", "Dhoom:2" and "Fanaa" won two awards each at the event, which witnessed sizzling dance performances by superstars Saif Ali Khan and Akshay Kumar, sultry Bipasha Basu and other Bollywood stars like Emraan Hashmi and Aaftab Shivdasani.

But the performances of the night came from the 32-year-old Shilpa Shetty, who was cheered on by the people as she danced to the tunes of the hit songs 'Crazy Kiya Re...' and 'Main Sadke Jawan...' and later on Amitabh and his son Abhishek brought the house down when they danced to popular Punjabi tunes.

Meanwhile, Upen Patel and Kangana Ranaut were declared the best debutants of last year and Big B presented Dharmendra, who has acted in around 250 movies, with the honourary award for his outstanding contribution to the Indian film industry.

The awards which has pulled in over 20,000 people, also saw the Best Editor's award go to P.S. Bharti for "Rang De Basanti", J.A. James won Best Make-up for "Dhoom:2" and Anaita Shroff Adajania bagged the Best Costume award for her stylish innovations with outfits in the same film.

Sunidhi Chauhan received the Best Female Singer award for her hit song 'Beedi Jalaile...' from the film "Omkara" while Shaan was the Best Male Singer for 'Chand Sifarish...' from the film "Fanaa".

The Best Lyricist award went to Prasoon Joshi for penning the song 'Chand Sifarish...' from "Fanaa" and A.R. Rahman won the Best Music award for his soulful melodies in "Rang De Basanti".

The elaborate set decoration, mega decibel music, lavish use of lights and colours and presence of the top names of Indian film industry - Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek, Aishwarya, Yash Chopra, Shilpa Shetty, Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta - made the event a spectacle for the audience.

The versatile character-actor Boman Irani and svelte Lara Dutta hosted this year's IIFA awards, which marked the end of the IIFA Weekend that brought top names of the Indian celluloid to the island.

IIFA rolled out a 'Green Carpet' this year, deviating from the tradition of a 'Red Carpet' welcome to celebrities, as it had taken up environmental issues in a bid to save the planet.

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Rang De Basanti