IIFA Awards: Shah Rukh wins best actor, 'Animal' named best film
Yas Island (Abu Dhabi) (PTI): Superstar Shah Rukh Khan won the best actor award for his role in "Jawan" while Ranbir Kapoor-starrer "Animal" was named the best picture at the IIFA Awards here.
Shah Rukh hosted the awards extravaganza on Saturday night with actor Vicky Kaushal and filmmaker Karan Johar.
The superstar was in his elements as a host whether it was striking his trademark pose of spreading his arms wide or matching steps with Kaushal on the latter's viral dance steps on "Tauba Tauba".
His "Dil Se..." director Mani Ratnam and music maestro A R Rahman were on stage to hand over the trophy to SRK and the superstar touched the feet of Ratnam before accepting the trophy.
Rani Mukerji won the best actress trophy for her role in "Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway" and as she walked back after accepting her award Shah Rukh, her co-star in many films, held her pallu to ensure that it did not touch the ground.
SRK was also there to lend his support to singer Shilpa Rao as she won the best playback singer (female) IIFA trophy for "Chaleya" from "Jawan" by doing an impromptu dance as Rao crooned the opening lines.
Kaushal seemed to be enjoying every minute of his hosting duties with SRK, who sportingly matched steps with his "Dunki" co-star on "Tauba Tauba".
The duo also danced on “Mere Mehboob Mere Sanam" from SRK's film "Duplicate" and "Oo Antava" from "Pushpa" to loud cheers from the audience.
Filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra won the best director IIFA award for his film "12th Fail".
Sandeep Reddy Vanga's film "Animal" also registered wins for Anil Kapoor and Bobby Deol in best supporting actor and best negative role categories, respectively.
Deol accepted his award and recreated his popular dance steps on the song 'Jamal kudu' with Vanga providing the prop of an empty glass.
Ranbir Kapoor seems to have given the awards a miss this year to celebrate his birthday with family. The actor turned 42 on Saturday.
"Animal" also won awards for music direction for Pritam, Vishal Mishra, Manan Bhardwaj, Shreyas Puranik, Jaani, Bhupinder Babbal, Ashim Kemson, Harshavardhan Rameshwar.
Bhupinder Babbal for his song 'Arjan Vailly' from "Animal" won the best playback singer (male) award as well as best lyrics award for 'Satranga'.
Johar's directorial venture "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani" also registered wins. Actor Shabana Azmi, who played lead star Alia Bhatt's grandmother in the movie, won the best supporting actress IIFA trophy while writers Ishita Moitra, Shashank Khaitan, Sumit Roy won best story award.
Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema award was given to veteran actor-politician Hema Malini. Shah Rukh Khan gallantly escorted the actor to the stage to receive her award as "Dream Girl" played on.
Alizeh Agnihotri won the best debutante actor trophy while Karan Boolani was named the best debutant director for his film "Thank You For Coming".
Apart from SRK and Vicky's performance on "Tauba Tauba", the song's original singer Karan Aujla was also there to sing live. Rapper Honey Sing performed on his new song "Bonita".
Major dance performances of the night were by veteran star Rekha, Prabhudeva and Shahid Kapoor, Janhvi Kapoor, Nora Fatehi, Kriti Sanon and Ananya Pandey.
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'Homebound' makes it to Oscar shortlist for best international feature
Mumbai (PTI): Neeraj Ghaywan's much acclaimed "Homebound" is among the 15 films shortlisted in the best international feature category at the Oscars, moving a step close to the final five nominations and maybe a win.
The movie, inspired by a true story that became the basis of a news article during the pandemic, has been creating a global buzz since its debut in the Un Certain Regard category at the Cannes Film Festival this May.
Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese is a fan and has come onboard as an executive producer ahead of the award season.
Produced by Karan Johar and Adar Poonawalla, and starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor, "Homebound" is Ghaywan's second movie after "Masaan".
"Homebound" will compete for an Oscar nomination alongside Argentina's “Belén”, Brazil's “The Secret Agent”, French drama "It Was Just an Accident”, Germany's "Sound of Falling” and Iraq's "The President's Cake".
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The other movies in the shortlist include Japan's “Kokuho”, Jordan's “All That’s Left of You”, Norway's “Sentimental Value”, Palestine's “Palestine 36”, South Korean hit “No Other Choice”, Spain's “Sirat”, "Late Shift" from Switzerland, “Left-Handed Girl”from Taiwan and Tunisian drama “The Voice of Hind Rajab”, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced in a release on Tuesday.
The award for best foreign film, now re-categorised as best international feature, has so far eluded India.
Only three Indian films have received nominations in the category -- Mehmood Khan’s “Mother India”, Mira Nair’s “Salaam Bombay” and Ashutosh Gowarikar’s “Lagaan”. Deepa Mehta’s “Water”, starring John Abraham and Lisa Ray, also received a nomination but it was submitted from Canada.
Gujarati film "Chhello Show" in 2023 was the last film to get shortlisted.
Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya was the first Indian to get an Oscar, bagging the coveted prize in 1983 for the film "Gandhi". Other than her, A R Rahman, Resul Pukootty and M M Keeravani have also won individual Oscars.
Team "Homebound" celebrated the shortlist news with posts on social media.
"We made the shortlist... Way to go team Homebound'!" Johar shared in Instagram Stories.
In a post, the producer said it was difficult for him to articulate how "proud and elated" he was with the news.
"All of us @dharmamovies are privileged to have this proud and important film in our filmography... thank you @neeraj.ghaywan for making so many dreams of ours come true... from Cannes to being on the Oscar shortlist this has been such an overwhelming journey! Love to the entire cast and crew and teams of this special special film! Upwards and onwards...."
Ghaywan also shared the news on X.
"#Homebound has been shortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards! We are deeply grateful for the extraordinary love and support we've received from around the world," he wrote on X with a special poster of the film.
Jethwa, who plays one of the two friends in the story opposite Ishaan Khatter, said the moment feels "surreal and incredibly humbling".
"To see 'Homebound' being shortlisted and progressing towards the Oscars is something I could have only dreamed of. I am deeply grateful for the love and support the film has received from audiences around the world," he said as he acknowledged Johar, Ghaywan and co-star Khatter and the rest of the team.
Khatter also shared the news on his Instagram stories and wrote, "Oscar ab dur nahi".
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"Homebound" is inspired by journalist Basharat Peer's The New York Times article “Taking Amrit Home”, also titled "A Friendship, a Pandemic and a Death Beside the Highway".
The film portrays the childhood friendship between a Muslim and Dalit who chase a police job that promises them the dignity they have long been denied due to their surnames.
The Academy on Tuesday also announced shortlists in 11 other categories, including the newly added casting Oscars, animated shorts, cinematography, documentary feature, documentary short, original score and song, sound and visual effects categories.
Nominations for the 98th Academy Awards will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2026.
Twenty-four categories will be awarded at the 98th Oscars. Each category has five nominees, except for best picture, which has 10.
The 98th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
