Dhurandhar and Aryan Khan's Show Lead Winners at the 2026 IIFA Awards

The 2026 International Indian Film Academy Awards concluded with Aditya Dhar's spy action drama Dhurandhar emerging as the biggest winner of the evening, sweeping multiple major categories. According to the Hindustan Times, the official Instagram account of the awards announced the winners for the 26th edition of the ceremony on Friday. Dhurandhar claimed top honours including Best Film, Best Director for Aditya Dhar, and Best Actor for Ranveer Singh. Aditya Dhar also secured trophies for Best Story, Best Screenplay, and Best Dialogues. The film's domination extended across technical and performance categories as well, with Sanjay Dutt winning Best Supporting Actor, Akshaye Khanna taking Best Actor in a Negative Role, Shashwat Sachdev winning Best Music Direction, Shivkumar V. Panicker taking Best Editing, and Bishwadeep Chatterjee winning Best Sound Design. In other film categories, Aneet Padda won Best Actress for her performance in Saiyaara, while Huma Qureshi won Best Supporting Actress for Jolly LLB 3. The romantic drama Saiyaara also earned awards for Irshad Kamil for Best Lyrics, Faheem Abdullah as Best Male Playback Singer, Shreya Ghoshal as Best Female Playback Singer for the reprise track, and Ahaan Panday for Best Male Debut. Meanwhile, Rasha Thadani won Best Female Debut for Azaad, Avatar: Fire and Ash won Best International Film, Bosco Leslie Martis won Best Choreography for Aavan Jaavan in War 2, and Chhaava picked up wins for Alok De in Best Sound Mixing, A.R. Rahman for Best Background Score, and Assemblage Entertainment alongside Redefine for Best Visual Effects.

Digital Awards

In the digital and OTT categories, Red Chillies Entertainment's series The Ba***ds of Bollywood dominated the field, bringing recognition to Aryan Khan who won Best Web Series Direction. The show also won Best Supporting Actress for Anya Singh and Best Supporting Actor for Raghav Juyal, alongside a Best Title Track win for Ujwal Gupta. Other digital winners included Baramulla for Best Picture and a shared Best Story win for Aditya Dhar, Monal Thakkar, and Aditya Suhas Jambhale. Karan Tejpal won Best Direction for Stolen, a film that also earned Abhishek Banerjee the Best Actor in a Leading Role award. Sanya Malhotra won Best Actress in a Leading Role for Mrs, Monika Panwar won Best Supporting Actress for Nishaanchi 2, and Avinash Tiwary won Best Supporting Actor for The Mehta Boys. Paatal Lok Season 2 also secured acting honours with Tillotama Shome winning Best Leading Actress, Jaideep Ahlawat winning Best Leading Actor, and Sudip Sharma, Tamal Sen, Rahul Kanojia, and Abhishek Banerjee winning Best Original Story.

Context

Annual film awards ceremonies like IIFA celebrate artistic and technical excellence across the Indian film industry, frequently rotating their host cities internationally to engage global audiences. The recognition of both theatrical releases and digital streaming series reflects the shifting landscape of modern entertainment, where platforms like OTT services hold equal weight alongside traditional cinema. Such mass accolades help highlight emerging talent in debut categories while honoring established technicians and actors.