8th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards held on June 9, 2007 night at
the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, United Kingdom, was Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s
political musical Rang De Basanti / Paint It Yellow, the tale of several
alienated university students — among them Aamir Khan — who develop a sense of
sociopolitical awareness after getting involved with a filmmaker (played by
Alice Patten, daughter of Chris Patten, the UK’s
last governor of Hong Kong) attempting to make a movie about Indian nationalists
who rose up against British rule.
In addition to being named best film, Rang De Basanti won three other awards out
of 15 nominations in the Popular Categories (voted by film fans online from a
list of nominees selected by the Indian Film Academy): best screenplay (Mehra
and Renzil D’Silva), best supporting actress (Soha Ali Khan), and best musical
direction (A.R. Rehman).
Mehra’s blockbuster ended up with more wins than any other film. In addition to
its four Popular victories, Rang De Basanti garnered 7 other awards in the
Technical Categories (chosen by Indian Film Academy members). Even so, the film
failed to sweep the Popular awards as I’d expected it to.
The best director trophy, for instance, went to Rajkumar Hirani for the musical
romantic comedy Lage Raho Munnabhai, which also won awards for best story and
best dialogue, while Rang De Basanti’s Aamir Khan lost the best actor award to
Hrithik Roshan for his portrayal of a man with super-powers in Krrish / There’s
No One Like You.
Other top winners were best actress Rani Mukherji (above) for her performance in
the drama Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna / Never Say Goodbye, best supporting actor
Arshad Warsi for Lage Raho Munnabhai, and veteran director-producer-screenwriter
Basu Chatterjee, who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Unlike other film academies, the IIFA give out several awards that, depending on
one’s mood, could be considered either quirky or tacky — possibly both. For
instance, there’s a Best Actor in a Comic Role category (the winner was Tusshar
Kapoor, who plays a dolt in Golmaal), Best Actor in a Negative Role (or, in MTV
speech, Best Villain — Saif Ali Khan, above, sans glasses, as a revamped Iago in
Vishal Bharadwaj’s adaptation of Othello set in the world of Indian politics,
Omkara), and best male/female playback singers. (Shaan was the male choice for
his singing in Fanaa; Sunidhi Chauhan was the female choice for her singing in
Omkara.)
Quirkier (or tackier) yet, the IIFA allows fans to vote on the "Most Glamorous
Stars." Unsurprisingly, the winners this year were beauty-of-beauties Aishwarya
Rai and hunk-of-hunks Hrithik Roshan.
On a more serious note, director Deepa Mehta was honored with a special award
for her international contribution to Indian filmmaking. Mehta’s win is a
curious — and welcome — recognition for the director’s efforts. Her 2005
Indian-Canadian drama Water caused a furor among Fundamentalist Hindus, who
destroyed the film’s Indian sets and threatened to kill the director. Production
had to be scrapped, being later resumed in Sri Lanka. Water — the last
installment of a controversial trilogy — went on to win three Canadian Genie
Awards and to receive a best foreign-language film Oscar nomination.
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Best Actor in a Comic Role : Tusshar Kapoor - Golmaal
Best Actor in a Negative Role : Saif Ali Khan - Omkara
Best Music Direction : A.R. Rehman - Rang De Basanti
Best Lyrics : Prasoon Joshi - Chand Sifarish (Fanaa)
Best Playback (Male) : Shaan - Chand Sifarish (Fanaa)
Best Playback (Female) : Sunidhi Chauhan - Beedi (Omkara)
Best Debut (Female) : Kangana Ranaut
Best Debut (Male) :Upen Patel
Outstanding Achievement Award :Dharmendra
Brightest Indian director abroad Award :Deepa Mehta - Water
Outstanding contribution to cinema :Basu Chaterjee
Best Cinematic contribution for litery work :Vishal Bhardwaj
Idea Creative Film : Krrish
The most glamourous face :Hrithik Roshan & Aishwarya Rai
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