The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) has announced the winners of its 26th edition, celebrating outstanding achievements across Indian films, web series and digital entertainment. The IIFA Awards 2026 recognised several popular films and performances, with Dhurandhar emerging as one of the biggest winners. The announcement comes ahead of the IIFA Awards 2027, scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi.
Starring Ranveer Singh and directed by Aditya Dhar, Dhurandhar received recognition in several major categories, including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Story and Best Music Direction. The film also dominated the technical awards, winning honours for cinematography, screenplay, dialogues, editing and sound design.
Meanwhile, Chhaava secured awards in sound mixing, background score and visual effects. Karan Johar’s Homebound was recognised in the Best Adapted Story category, with three credited winners. Avatar: Fire & Ash received the Best International Film award, also featuring three credited recipients.
IIFA Awards 2026 Recognises Emerging Talent
The 2026 edition also celebrated newcomers who made an impression with their performances. Ahaan Panday received the Best Male Debut award for Saiyaara, while Rasha Thadani won Best Female Debut for Azaad.
In the film categories, Baramulla secured awards for Best Picture and Best Original Story. Stolen received recognition for direction, along with Abhishek Banerjee’s performance in a leading role.
Sanya Malhotra was honoured for her leading performance in Mrs. The supporting performance awards went to Monika Panwar for Nishaanchi and Avinash Tiwary for The Mehta Boys.
The Ba***ds of Bollywood and Paatal Lok S2 Shine in Series Categories
The series categories also witnessed several notable wins. The Ba**ds of Bollywood* received the Best Picture award, while Aryan Khan was recognised for Best Direction. Anya Singh and Raghav Juyal also won awards for their supporting performances in the series.
Paatal Lok S2 emerged as another major winner, with Jaideep Ahlawat and Tillotama Shome taking home awards for their leading performances. The series also received the Best Original Story award, with four credited winners.
In the non-fiction categories, The Roshans won Best Docuseries/DocuFilm, while The Traitors was recognised as Best Reality/Non-Scripted programme.
Ujwal Gupta received the Best Title Track award for “Number 1” from The Ba**ds of Bollywood*, highlighting the contribution of music to digital entertainment.
Dhurandhar and Chhaava Dominate Technical Categories
Dhurandhar continued its strong performance in the technical categories, winning awards for Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Dialogues, Best Editing and Best Sound Design.
Chhaava also secured three technical honours. Alok De won Best Sound Mixing, AR Rahman received Best Background Score, and Assemblage Entertainment and Redefine were recognised for Best Visual Effects.
Meanwhile, Bosco Leslie Martis won Best Choreography for the song “Aavan Jaavan” from War 2, featuring Hrithik Roshan and Kiara Advani.
IIFA Awards 2026: Complete Winners List
Here is the category-wise list of winners from the 26th edition of the IIFA Awards.
Popular Categories
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Picture | Dhurandhar — Jyoti Deshpande, Aditya Dhar and Lokesh Dhar |
| Best International Film | Avatar: Fire & Ash — 20th Century Studios (India distributors), Jon Landau and James Cameron |
| Best Director | Aditya Dhar — Dhurandhar |
| Best Actor (Male) | Ranveer Singh — Dhurandhar |
| Best Actor (Female) | Aneet Padda — Saiyaara |
| Best Supporting Actor (Male) | Sanjay Dutt — Dhurandhar |
| Best Supporting Actor (Female) | Huma Qureshi — Jolly LLB 3 |
| Best Performance in a Negative Role | Akshaye Khanna — Dhurandhar |
| Best Music Direction | Shashwat Sachdev — Dhurandhar |
| Best Original Story | Aditya Dhar — Dhurandhar |
| Best Adapted Story | Basharat Peer, Sumit Roy and Neeraj Ghaywan — Homebound |
| Best Lyrics | Irshad Kamil — “Saiyaara” (Saiyaara) |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Faheem Abdullah — “Saiyaara” (Saiyaara) |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Shreya Ghoshal — “Saiyaara Reprise – Female” (Saiyaara) |
Debut Categories
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Male Debut | Ahaan Panday — Saiyaara |
| Best Female Debut | Rasha Thadani — Azaad |
Technical Categories
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Cinematography | Vikash Nowlakha — Dhurandhar |
| Best Screenplay | Aditya Dhar — Dhurandhar |
| Best Dialogues | Aditya Dhar — Dhurandhar |
| Best Editing | Shivkumar V. Panicker — Dhurandhar |
| Best Choreography | Bosco Leslie Martis — “Aavan Jaavan” (War 2) |
| Best Sound Design | Bishwadeep Chatterjee — Dhurandhar |
| Best Sound Mixing | Alok De — Chhaava |
| Best Background Score | AR Rahman — Chhaava |
| Best Visual Effects | Assemblage Entertainment and Redefine — Chhaava |
The IIFA Awards 2026 celebrated achievements across films, television and digital entertainment, recognising established performers as well as emerging talent. Congratulations to all the winners!