Veer-Zaara with Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta. The Indian Film Academy Awards’ Best Film, Yash Chopra’s romantic drama stars Khan and Zinta as an Indian Air Force pilot and the Pakistani daughter of a wealthy, politically connected family.- Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zaara, a romantic drama with political overtones, was the big winner at this year’s International Indian Film Academy Awards, held in Amsterdam. Best Actor Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta star.
- Rani Mukherji turned out to be an Indian Film Academy Award double winner, topping both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories for, respectively, You and Me and Veer-Zaara.
Intimate India-Pakistan relations top International Indian Film Academy Awards
At a June 11 ceremony at Amsterdam’s Arena Stadium, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) selected Yash Chopra’s Veer-Zaara, about the doomed passion between an Indian Air Force pilot (Shah Rukh Khan) and a wealthy Pakistani woman (Preity Zinta), as their Best Film.
In addition, Veer-Zaara topped the following categories: Best Director, Actor, Supporting Actress for Rani Mukherji, Story (Aditya Chopra), and Make-Up.
The film’s title is an abbreviated combo of the lead characters’ names: Veer Pratap Singh (Khan) and Zaara Hayaat Khan (Zinta).
Triple nominee + double winner Rani Mukherji
Rani Mukherji turned out to be a double winner at the IIFA Awards, as she was also named Best Actress for her performance in Kunal Kohli’s romantic comedy You and Me / Hum Tum, which, similarly to Rob Reiner’s When Harry Met Sally…, revolves around two characters who see each other throughout the years until love rears its crowd-pleasing head.
If that weren’t all, Mukherji was also an IIFA Award loser, as she had been been competing against herself in the Best Supporting Actress category for her work in Mani Ratnam’s action drama Yuva, which also earned Abhishek Bachchan Best Supporting Actor honors.
Lastly, cinematographer V.K. Murthy (Love in Tokyo, Barood) and actress Shabana Azmi (The Chess Players, Madame Sousatzka) received Lifetime Achievement Awards.
Academy Awards + People’s Choice Awards mélange
It should be noted that IIFA’s voting process, a sort of Academy Awards and People’s Choice Awards mélange, is conducted in two stages: on a chosen weekend, members of India’s film industry gather to vote in the “popular” and technical categories; the winners in the technical categories are decided in that first round, while the names of the five nominees in each popular category are then posted on various international websites so the filmgoing public can select the winners.
A partial list of this year’s Indian Academy Award winners and nominees can be found below.
Indian Film Academy Awards: Partial list of winners & nominees
Film
Dhoom.
You and Me.
Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Swades.
* Veer-Zaara.Director
Ashutosh Gowarikar – Swades.
David Dhawan – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Farah Khan – Main Hoon Na.
Kunal Kohli – You and Me.
* Yash Chopra – Veer-Zaara.Actress
Kareena Kapoor – Aitraaz.
Priyanka Chopra – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
* Rani Mukherji – You and Me.
Shilpa Shetty – Phir Milenge.
Urmila Matondkar – Ek Hasina Thi.Actor
Nana Patekar – Ab Tak Chhappan.
Saif Ali Khan – You and Me.
Salman Khan – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Shah Rukh Khan – Swades.
* Shah Rukh Khan – Veer-Zaara.Supporting Actor
* Abhishek Bachchan – Yuva.
Amitabh Bachchan – Veer-Zaara.
Pankaj Kapur – Maqbool.
Paresh Rawal – Aitraaz.
Zayed Khan – Main Hoon Na.Supporting Actress
Divya Dutta – Veer-Zaara.
Esha Deol – Dhoom.
Kishori Ballal – Swades.
* Rani Mukherji – Veer-Zaara.
Rani Mukherji – Yuva.Screenplay: Abbas Tyrewala & Vishal Bharadwaj – Maqbool.
Editing: Hussain Barmawala – Aitraaz.
Cinematography: Asim Bajaj – Chameli.
Art Direction: Sharmista Roy – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Costume Design: Vikram Phadnis – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Score: Salim Merchant & Salim-Sulaiman – Mujhse Shaadi Karogi.
Lifetime Achievement Award: Cinematographer V. K. Murthy & actress Shabana Azmi.
“India-Pakistan Romantic Drama” endnotes
International Indian Film Academy website.
Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta Veer-Zaara image: Yash Raj Films.
“India-Pakistan Romantic Drama Tops Indian Film Academy Awards” last updated in July 2021.