IIFA Awards 2026 Winners: Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar leads the honours with 12 awards, while Aneet Padda, Ahaan Panday and Aryan Khan secure major recognition across films and OTT entertainment.
Entertainment Desk | November 2, 2026
A commanding performance by the spy thriller Dhurandhar, major acting honours for Ranveer Singh and Aneet Padda, and a successful awards outing for Aryan Khan’s debut web series have emerged as the defining highlights of the 26th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.
The award results, announced through IIFA’s official digital platforms on October 30, recognised achievements across mainstream cinema, independent storytelling, music, technical filmmaking and streaming entertainment.
With 12 awards to its credit, Dhurandhar topped the winners’ tally, establishing a clear lead over other contenders. The film’s achievements extended from the most prominent categories to several behind-the-scenes departments.
Romantic drama Saiyaara also enjoyed a successful showing, collecting awards for acting, music and debut performances. Meanwhile, Chhaava, Homebound and several digital productions received recognition in their respective categories.
Ranveer Singh and Aditya Dhar Lead Dhurandhar’s Winning Run
For filmmaker Aditya Dhar, the IIFA 2026 results marked a particularly successful outing.
His film Dhurandhar received the Best Film award, while Dhar himself was recognised for Best Direction, Original Story, Screenplay and Dialogues.
Ranveer Singh claimed the Best Actor award for his performance in the film. The supporting cast also featured among the winners, with Sanjay Dutt receiving Best Supporting Actor and Akshaye Khanna securing Best Performance in a Negative Role.
The thriller’s achievements were not limited to its principal cast and creative team.
Shashwat Sachdev won for Music Direction, Vikash Nowlakha was honoured for Cinematography, and Shivkumar V. Panicker received the Editing award. Bishwadeep Chatterjee took home the Sound Design honour.
These results gave Dhurandhar recognition across acting, storytelling, direction and technical filmmaking.
Aneet Padda Wins Best Actress as Saiyaara Collects Five Awards
While Dhurandhar led the overall awards count, Mohit Suri’s romantic drama Saiyaara established its own presence among the winners.
Aneet Padda secured the Best Actress award for her performance, while fellow lead Ahaan Panday received the Best Male Debut honour.
The film’s music contributed significantly to its five-award tally.
Irshad Kamil earned the Best Lyrics award for the title song. Faheem Abdullah won Best Male Playback Singer, while Shreya Ghoshal was recognised as Best Female Playback Singer for the female reprise of Saiyaara.
In another debut category, Rasha Thadani received Best Female Debut for Azaad.
Huma Qureshi, meanwhile, was honoured with Best Supporting Actress for her work in Jolly LLB 3.
IIFA Awards 2026: Main Film Winners
The principal film awards were distributed as follows:
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Film | Dhurandhar |
| Best Director | Aditya Dhar – Dhurandhar |
| Best Actor | Ranveer Singh – Dhurandhar |
| Best Actress | Aneet Padda – Saiyaara |
| Best Supporting Actor | Sanjay Dutt – Dhurandhar |
| Best Supporting Actress | Huma Qureshi – Jolly LLB 3 |
| Best Negative Role | Akshaye Khanna – Dhurandhar |
| Best International Film | Avatar: Fire & Ash |
| Best Male Debut | Ahaan Panday – Saiyaara |
| Best Female Debut | Rasha Thadani – Azaad |
| 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 |
| Best Male Playback Singer | Faheem Abdullah – Saiyaara |
| Best Female Playback Singer | Shreya Ghoshal – Saiyaara (Female Reprise) |
Chhaava Earns Three Technical Honours
The historical drama Chhaava claimed three awards in technical and musical categories.
Composer A.R. Rahman received Best Background Score, while Alok De won for Sound Mixing. The Visual Effects award went to Assemblage Entertainment and Redefine.
Other technical winners included Bosco Leslie Martis, who received the Choreography award for the song Aavan Jaavan from War 2.
Complete Technical Awards List
| 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 – 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 |
Aryan Khan’s Directorial Debut Receives Major OTT Recognition
The IIFA Digital Awards 2026 also delivered notable results, particularly for Aryan Khan.
His debut directorial project, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, won Best Web Series and Best Direction, establishing the production among the leading digital winners.
Actors Anya Singh and Raghav Juyal received supporting performance awards for their roles in the Netflix series.
The production collected another honour when Ujwal Gupta won Best Title Track for Number 1, bringing its total to five awards.
The recognition represented an important milestone for Aryan Khan’s entry into directing.
Paatal Lok Season 2 Recognised for Acting and Storytelling
Another major contender in the digital series categories was Paatal Lok Season 2.
Jaideep Ahlawat received the Best Actor award in the digital series category, while Tillotama Shome won Best Actress.
The crime drama also secured the Best Original Story honour, credited to Sudip Sharma, Tamal Sen, Rahul Kanojia and Abhishek Banerjee.
The results reflected the range of streaming productions recognised at the awards, including crime dramas and entertainment-focused series.
IIFA Digital Awards 2026: Film Category Winners
The digital film categories brought recognition to several productions, including Baramulla, Stolen and Mrs.
Baramulla received Best Picture and Best Original Story. Director Karan Tejpal won for Stolen, while Abhishek Banerjee earned Best Actor for the same film.
Sanya Malhotra was named Best Actress for Mrs.
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Digital Film | Baramulla |
| Best Director | Karan Tejpal – Stolen |
| Best Actor | Abhishek Banerjee – Stolen |
| Best Actress | Sanya Malhotra – Mrs |
| Best Supporting Actor | Avinash Tiwary – The Mehta Boys |
| Best Supporting Actress | Monika Panwar – Nishaanchi 2 |
| Best Original Story | Aditya Dhar, Monal Thakkar and Aditya Suhas Jambhale – Baramulla |
IIFA Digital Awards 2026: Web Series Winners
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Web Series | The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Best Director | Aryan Khan – The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Best Actor | Jaideep Ahlawat – Paatal Lok Season 2 |
| Best Actress | Tillotama Shome – Paatal Lok Season 2 |
| Best Supporting Actor | Raghav Juyal – The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Best Supporting Actress | Anya Singh – The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Best Original Story | Sudip Sharma, Tamal Sen, Rahul Kanojia and Abhishek Banerjee – Paatal Lok Season 2 |
Documentary and Reality Entertainment Winners
The digital awards also acknowledged achievements beyond scripted films and web series.
The Roshans received the Best Docuseries/DocuFilm award, while The Traitors won Best Reality/Non-Scripted Programme.
Ujwal Gupta’s Number 1 from The Ba***ds of Bollywood was recognised as Best Title Track.
IIFA 2026 Celebrates Established Stars and Emerging Talent
The 26th IIFA Awards highlighted a mix of established film personalities, emerging actors and filmmakers working across theatrical and streaming formats.
Ranveer Singh, Aditya Dhar, A.R. Rahman and Shreya Ghoshal were among the established names recognised, while Aneet Padda, Ahaan Panday, Rasha Thadani and Aryan Khan featured prominently among the younger talents receiving honours.
The awards also reflected the growing visibility of digital entertainment, with streaming titles competing for recognition across acting, writing and direction.
With Dhurandhar securing 12 awards, Saiyaara receiving five honours and The Ba***ds of Bollywood collecting five digital awards, the 2026 results placed a spotlight on productions spanning action, romance, drama and streaming entertainment.
Source: International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) — Official 2026 Awards Winners List.
