Dhurandhar, directed by Aditya Dhar and starring Ranveer Singh, emerged as the biggest winner at the 26th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, taking home 12 awards across the film categories. The winners were announced on Friday, October 30, through the official IIFA Awards Instagram account. Saiyaara and Chhaava also secured multiple honours, while Baramulla and Stolen were among the notable winners in the digital film categories.
The awards recognised achievements across acting, direction, writing, music and technical departments. Dhurandhar secured the Best Film award, with its director Aditya Dhar winning Best Director. Ranveer Singh received Best Actor (Leading Role), while Sanjay Dutt was recognised in the Best Actor (Supporting Role) category. Akshaye Khanna won Best Actor in a Negative Role for his performance in the film.
Dhar also collected awards for Best Story (Original), Best Screenplay and Best Dialogues. The film’s technical and music achievements further strengthened its position at the awards. Shashwat Sachdev won Best Music Direction, Vikash Nowlakha received Best Cinematography, Shivkumar V. Panicker won Best Editing and Bishwadeep Chatterjee was recognised for Best Sound Design. Together, these wins gave Dhurandhar a total of 12 awards, making it the clear leader among this year’s theatrical film winners.
Saiyaara was another major winner, collecting five awards across acting, debut and music categories. Aneet Padda won Best Actress (Leading Role), while Ahaan Panday received Best Male Debut. The film also secured Best Lyrics for Irshad Kamil and Best Playback Singer (Male) for Faheem Abdullah. Shreya Ghoshal won Best Playback Singer (Female) for Saiyaara (Reprise – Female).
Chhaava took home three awards, all in music and technical categories. A.R. Rahman won Best Background Score, Alok De received Best Sound Mixing, and Assemblage Entertainment and Redefine were recognised for Best Visual Effects.
Among the other theatrical film winners, Homebound received Best Story (Adapted), awarded to Basharat Peer, Sumit Roy and Neeraj Ghaywan. Huma Qureshi won Best Actress (Supporting Role) for Jolly LLB 3. Bosco Leslie Martis received Best Choreography for Aavan Jaavan from War 2, while Rasha Thadani won Best Female Debut for Azaad. The Best International Film award went to Avatar: Fire & Ash, credited to 20th Century Studios, Jon Landau and James Cameron.
The IIFA Digital Awards also recognised achievements in films released through digital platforms. Baramulla won Best Picture and Best Story (Original), making it one of the leading titles in this category. Stolen secured two awards, with Karan Tejpal winning Best Direction and Abhishek Banerjee receiving Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male).
The remaining digital film awards were distributed across four titles. Sanya Malhotra won Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female) for Mrs, while Monika Panwar received Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) for Nishaanchi 2. Avinash Tiwary won Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) for The Mehta Boys.
The 26th IIFA Awards announcement covered both theatrical releases and digital films. While Dhurandhar dominated the overall film winners with 12 awards, Saiyaara and Chhaava also registered significant wins. In the digital film categories, Baramulla and Stolen emerged as the leading titles.
26th IIFA Awards 2026: Complete List of Winners
Theatrical Film Awards
Best Film: Dhurandhar – Jyoti Deshpande, Aditya Dhar and Lokesh Dhar
Best International Film: Avatar: Fire & Ash – 20th Century Studios, Jon Landau and James Cameron
Best Director: Aditya Dhar – Dhurandhar
Best Actress (Leading Role): Aneet Padda – Saiyaara
Best Actor (Leading Role): Ranveer Singh – Dhurandhar
Best Actress (Supporting Role): Huma Qureshi – Jolly LLB 3
Best Actor (Supporting Role): Sanjay Dutt – Dhurandhar
Best Actor in a Negative Role: Akshaye Khanna – Dhurandhar
Best Music Direction: Shashwat Sachdev – Dhurandhar
Best Story (Original): Aditya Dhar – Dhurandhar
Best Story (Adapted): Basharat Peer, Sumit Roy and Neeraj Ghaywan – Homebound
Best Lyrics: Irshad Kamil – Saiyaara
Best Playback Singer (Male): Faheem Abdullah – Saiyaara
Best Playback Singer (Female): Shreya Ghoshal – Saiyaara (Reprise – Female)
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: A.R. Rahman – Chhaava
Best Visual Effects: Assemblage Entertainment and Redefine – Chhaava
Best Female Debut: Rasha Thadani – Azaad
Best Male Debut: Ahaan Panday – Saiyaara
IIFA Digital Awards – Film Categories
Best Picture: Baramulla
Best Story (Original): Baramulla
Best Direction: Karan Tejpal – Stolen
Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male): Abhishek Banerjee – Stolen
Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female): Sanya Malhotra – Mrs
Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Female): Monika Panwar – Nishaanchi 2
Best Performance in a Supporting Role (Male): Avinash Tiwary – The Mehta Boys
