STAR SPARKLE; A view of all the actions from the house of 25th IIFA Awards in Jaipur

The 25th IIFA Awards was held in Jaipur last weekend, with some of Bollywood’s biggest names making a beeline for the Pink City. Over two days, IIFA — which also launched its first-ever digital awards to commemorate an edition which it describes as ‘Silver is the new golden’ — saw Shah Rukh Khan leading the Bolly brigade, which boasted names like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shahid Kapoor, Kriti Sanon, Madhuri Dixit, Kartik Aaryan, Karan Johar and more, lighting up the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre (JECC). t2oS soaked in the magic and madness of IIFA Awards 2025. Here are our highlights of the weekend...

Clean sweep!

Seldom has a film walked away with almost all the awards of the evening. But then, Laapataa Ladies is special. The Kiran Rao-directed film netted 10 trophies, including the big ones for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Nitanshi Goel. The film, which takes on patriarchy but packages it with humour and a coming-of-age story, also took home the awards for Best Supporting Actor — Male (Ravi Kishan), Best Debut — Female (Pratibha Ranta), Best Lyrics (Prashant Pandey, Sajni Re), Best Music (Ram Sampath), Best Editing (Jabeen Merchant), Best Screenplay (Sneha Desai) and Best Original Story (Biplab Goswami).

Kill, the adrenaline-pumping ride which has proved to be a game-changer in the action genre, also bagged a few awards, including Best Debut — Male for its leading man Lakshya, Best Actor in a Negative Role for Raghav Juyal, Best Cinematography (Rafey Mehmood) and Best Sound Design. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 also took home a few, including the Best Actor in a Leading Role trophy for Kartik Aaryan and Best Playback Singer — Female for Shreya Ghoshal’s mellifluous rendition of Aami je tomar 3.0 from the film. Yami Gautam Dhar’s Article 370 also won a few, including Best Playback Singer — Male for Jubin Nautiyal for Dua.

Spoken from the heart

A few memorable speeches dominated the evening. Perhaps the most heartfelt moment of the 25th IIFA Awards belonged to Nitanshi Goel who staved off competition from Alia Bhatt (Jigra) and Katrina Kaif (Merry Christmas) to win the Best Actress in a Leading Role honour for Laapataa Ladies.

Clearly overwhelmed, the 17-year-old was in tears as she recalled watching the awards on TV as a kid and fervently hoping for her big moment on the same stage. Nitanshi dedicated the award to her mother and everyone who embraced her character, Phool. “This is for my mom, for everyone who loved Phool, and for those who accepted me — both as Nitanshi and Phool. She also encouraged everyone to dream like she did and to work hard enough to manifest them. “Bade sapne dekhiye... kyunki woh sach hote hain,” teared up the teenager, beautiful in a ruby-red gown.

The other young winner of the evening was Janki Bodiwala, who took home the IIFA Award for Best Supporting Role — Female for her stellar act in Shaitaan. Janki was speechless on stage, and with good reason. Shah Rukh Khan stepped up to present the award, with the actress confessing that she was “very, very nervous”. “Don’t worry, I am more nervous than you are,” smiled SRK in his trademark style.

Kiran Rao, while accepting the Best Director Award for Laapataa Ladies, her sophomore outing behind the camera, said on stage: “It is a rare privilege to make a film like Laapataa Ladies and rarer to get awarded for it.” She thanked the film’s co-producer and superstar Aamir Khan, “for discovering the story and thinking I could direct it”. Kiran reserved the most heartwarming gratitude for the audience that has embraced the film globally. “Nothing can compare with the love of people who have said they have watched the film multiple times.”

Kartik Aaryan’s speech for Best Actor for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (many rightfully argue that it should have been for his role in Chandu Champion, instead) included talking about a time when conversations around his casting for the blockbuster horror-comedy franchise was dominated by naysayers who weren’t sure if he could shoulder such a big franchise. “But today, I am known as Rooh Baba (his character in the Bhool Bhulaiyaa films) everywhere and across generations,” he smiled. Kartik also brought on ‘awwws’ from the audience, dedicating the award to his pet pooch, Katori.

Kunal Kemmu made for a richly-deserving winner. The actor was given the Debut Director award for his comic caper Madgaon Express, that he also wrote. “Bahut young waali feeling aa rahi hain,” laughed Kunal, who has been acting since the age of four. Raghav Juyal, a winner for his unbridled villainy in Kill, touched hearts with his speech about a small-town boy from Dehradun making it to the industry, with his parents sitting for support in the audience. Popularly known as “Crockroaxz” or the “King of Slow Motion” for his dance moves, Raghav also treated the audience to his trademark move, inviting loud claps, cheers and ceetees.

Veteran actor-filmmaker Rakesh Roshan was presented with the Outstanding Achievement in Cinema award. Doing the honours was Rekha, his Khoobsurat co-star, who also played the memorable protagonist in Khoon Bhari Maang, Roshan’s second film as director. Rekha, dressed in her signature kanjeevaram, spoke about her long association with Roshan, describing his journey as one of “resilience”, with Roshan going back in time to talk about the long and fruitful innings he has had, as well as the journey ahead. A memorable moment of the evening, without a doubt, was that of the two reprising their steps from Khoon Bhari Maang’s Hanste hanste kat jaaye raste.

Bromance & banter

Karan Johar and Kartik Aaryan — despite their much-publicised friction in the past — made for a pair of winning co-hosts, often bringing the house down with their lively wit and quick-as-a-whip repartee. The two, sporting enough to take a few on the chin (and we aren’t talking about Kartik’s uppercut from Chandu Champion), were on fire, especially in a ‘Rap Battle’ segment early in the evening, where Karan joked about Kartik’s ‘single status’ — something that Nora Fatehi later added fuel to by asking the actor: “Koi hain iss industry mein jisko aapne abhi tak date nahin kiya?” — and Kartik talking about how he has survived in Bollywood without being a ‘nepo kid’.

A few segments later, Kartik addressed the elephant in the room, poking at Karan’s Dharma Productions selling 50 per cent of its stake to business baron Adar Poonawala. “Unka naam ‘adar’ se lo,” was the straight-faced comeback from Karan, even as Kartik, to set the record straight, said that he had heard that Poonawala had acquired 51 per cent of KJo’s production house. “It is 50 per cent,” said Karan. At one point, when Kartik broke into some sher-o-shayari, Karan made a comeback with: “Wah mere Gwalior ke Gulzar,” alluding to the actor’s hometown.

The co-hosts showcased some fun bromance through the course of the evening, which was strong enough for Kareena Kapoor Khan, on stage to present an award, to even comment on the same, adding her Geet-inspired tadka to it, of course. Asked during a ‘quiz’ about who (read: female) should Kartik go on a holiday with, Kareena barely wasted a moment, saying that Karan would be the ideal choice! That invited mock-horror from KJo, and peals of laughter from the audience.

Magic moves

Madhuri Dixit to Kriti Sanon, Kartik Aaryan to Shahid Kapoor, the audience at Jaipur was treated to many an electrifying performance at the 25th IIFA Awards.

Kareena Kapoor Khan paid tribute to her grandfather Raj Kapoor in his centenary year of birth with a medley of The Showman’s biggest hits, including Awara hoon, Ramaiyya vastavaiya and Jeena yahan marna yahan. The performance was punctuated with a voiceover from Kareena who spoke about her fondest memories with her granddad. The statuesque Kriti Sanon danced to some of her biggest hits, including the recent chart-topper Raanjhan from Do Patti, her debut as producer.

Kartik Aaryan kicked off the performances with his infectious moves, coming back again to reprise his signature Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 step with Katrina Kaif, which went viral on the web in no time.

Some of the biggest cheers of the evening was reserved for Shahid Kapoor, whose effortless moves breathed new life into many of his own hits such as Mauja hi mauja, Saree ke fall sa and Dhating naach. We loved the medley of moves to his recent songs, that included Bhasad from Devaa and Teri baaton mein aisa uljha jiya from last year’s eponymously-named film.

The ever-graceful Madhuri Dixit presented a classical-based performance, with Choli ke peechhey getting the crowd to its feet.

The crown jewel of the evening was, of course, Shah Rukh Khan’s performance. The 59-year-old superstar — the biggest draw at IIFA this year — commenced his act as late as 3am, but there were no empty seats.

Everyone stuck around, of course, to watch SRK show off some energetic moves to Dard-e-disco, Lungi dance, Jhoome jo Pathaan and more. And then, of course, was the dance atop a ‘train’ to Chhaiya chhaiya. Before that, a laser show — with King Khan’s iconic outstretched hands pose lighting up the sky — had everyone click-click. A paisa-vasool moment!

Viral!

The most memorable moment of the show was courtesy Madhuri joining Shah Rukh Khan for his act on stage — the piece de resistance of the evening — as the duo matched steps to Koi ladki hain from their 1997 hit Dil To Pagal Hai. Their few minutes on stage together won hearts and befittingly took over the Internet.

But breaking the Internet by a long mile was the Shahid-Kareena reunion on the IIFA stage. The former couple, who had an acrimonious split 18 years ago and have not shared an equation since, took everyone by surprise, engaging in conversation like old friends. Social media went into overdrive at the prospect of a possible Geet-Aditya collab (‘Jab We Met 2’, we are looking at you!), with fans (and even those who aren’t) describing the two burying the hatchet as one of the most ‘feel-good’ moments in recent memory.

AWARDING THE BEST ON OTT

Taking place a day before the main awards, the first-ever IIFA Digital Awards recognised the best in OTT. Hosted jointly by actors Vijay Varma, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee, the evening was studded with some big names, including Jaideep Ahlawat and Ali Fazal, who slipped into the skin of their superhit characters — Hathiram Chaudhary from Paatal Lok and Mirzapur’s Guddu Pandit — to debate on ‘OTT ka king kaun?’

That gave way to a mostly fun, albeit overlong, evening, comprising song ’n’ dance, awards, speeches, gags and more. The highlight for us? Shreya Ghoshal taking the stage for the better part of 45 minutes to mesmerise Jaipur with not only some of her most brilliant gems, but also to pay tribute to a few Bollywood music icons who have influenced her the most. That saw her belt out Asha Bhosle’s Dum maaro dum and Chaudhvin ka chand for Mohd Rafi, among others. Nora Fatehi, Mika Singh and composer duo Sachin-Jigar also put up lively acts.

While Amar Singh Chamkila was adjudged the Best Film and also won Imtiaz Ali the IIFA for Best Director, the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Film) trophy went to Vikrant Massey for his role of a serial killer in Sector 36. Kriti Sanon won the Best Actress in a Leading Role (Film) award for her double role in Do Patti.

In the series section, Season 3 of Panchayat was the big winner, taking home the honours for Best Series, Best Director, Best Actor for Jitendra Kumar and Best Supporting Actor for Faisal Malik.

The IIFA Awards 2025 will be telecast on Zee TV tonight at 8pm.