IIFA Awards 2026 Winners: 'Dhurandhar', 'Chhaava' Lead The List, Check Full Winners

The 26th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards has announced its winners, celebrating achievements across Indian cinema and digital entertainment. From popular performances and technical excellence to promising debutants, the awards recognised talent across several categories.

'Dhurandhar' emerged as one of the biggest winners in the popular and technical categories, securing honours for its direction, performances, storytelling and music. 'Chhaava' also had a strong showing in the technical categories, while 'Homebound' received recognition for its adapted story.

The awards also celebrated new talent, with Rasha Thadani winning Best Female Debut for 'Azaad' and Ahaan Panday taking home Best Male Debut for 'Saiyaara'.

IIFA Awards 2026: Popular Category Winners

'Dhurandhar' stood out in the popular categories, receiving recognition across multiple aspects of filmmaking, including direction, acting, original storytelling and music.

'Homebound' also secured three credited wins in the Best Story (Adapted) category. Meanwhile, 'Avatar: Fire & Ash' was recognised as Best International Film, with three credited recipients associated with the award.

Category

Winner(s)

Film / Entry

Direction

Aditya Dhar

Dhurandhar

Performance in a Leading Role (Male)

Ranveer Singh

Dhurandhar

Performance in a Leading Role (Female)

Aneet Padda

Saiyaara

Performance in a Supporting Role (Male)

Sanjay Dutt

Dhurandhar

Performance in a Supporting Role (Female)

Huma Qureshi

Jolly LLB 3

Performance in a Negative Role

Akshaye Khanna

Dhurandhar

Music Direction

Shashwat Sachdev

Dhurandhar

Best Story (Original)

Aditya Dhar

Dhurandhar

Best Story (Adapted)

Basharat Peer, Sumit Roy, Neeraj Ghaywan

Homebound

Best International Film

20th Century Studios, Jon Landau, James Cameron

Avatar: Fire & Ash

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IIFA Awards 2026: Technical Category Winners

'Dhurandhar' continued its winning streak in the technical categories, earning awards for cinematography, screenplay, dialogues, editing and sound design.

'Chhaava' also made a strong impact, winning in sound mixing, background score and visual effects. 'War 2' received the award for Best Choreography for the song 'Aavan Jaavan'.

Category

Winner(s)

Film

Cinematography

Vikash Nowlakha

Dhurandhar

Screenplay

Aditya Dhar

Dhurandhar

Dialogues

Aditya Dhar

Dhurandhar

Editing

Shivkumar V. Panicker

Dhurandhar

Sound Design

Bishwadeep Chatterjee

Dhurandhar

Sound Mixing

Alok De

Chhaava

Background Score

A.R. Rahman

Chhaava

Special Effects (Visual)

Assemblage Entertainment, Redefine

Chhaava

Choreography

Bosco Leslie Martis (Song: Aavan Jaavan)

War 2

IIFA Awards 2026: Best Debut Winners

The 2026 edition also recognised emerging performers in Indian cinema. Rasha Thadani won Best Female Debut for her performance in 'Azaad', while Ahaan Panday received Best Male Debut for 'Saiyaara'.

Both actors were recognised for their entry into the film industry and their performances in their respective films.

Award Category

Winner

Film

Best Female Debut

Rasha Thadani

Azaad

Best Male Debut

Ahaan Panday

Saiyaara

IIFA Digital Awards 2026: Film Category Winners

The IIFA Digital Awards 2026 celebrated achievements in films released on digital platforms.

'Baramulla' emerged as a major winner in the film category, taking home awards for Best Picture and Best Story (Original). 'Stolen' received recognition for direction and Abhishek Banerjee's leading performance.

Sanya Malhotra won for her leading performance in 'Mrs'. In the supporting performance categories, Monika Panwar was recognised for 'Nishaanchi 2', while Avinash Tiwary won for 'The Mehta Boys'.

Category

Winner(s)

Film / Project

Best Picture

B62 Studios, Netflix, Jio Studios

Baramulla

Direction

Karan Tejpal

Stolen

Performance in a Leading Role (Male)

Abhishek Banerjee

Stolen

Performance in a Leading Role (Female)

Sanya Malhotra

Mrs

Performance in a Supporting Role (Male)

Avinash Tiwary

The Mehta Boys

Performance in a Supporting Role (Female)

Monika Panwar

Nishaanchi 2

Best Story (Original)

Aditya Dhar, Monal Thakkar, Aditya Suhas Jambhale

Baramulla

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IIFA Digital Awards 2026: Series Category Winners

'The Ba***ds of Bollywood' made a strong impression in the series category, winning Best Picture and Best Direction for Aryan Khan. The series also secured supporting performance awards for Anya Singh and Raghav Juyal.

'Paatal Lok Season 2' was another major winner. Jaideep Ahlawat and Tillotama Shome received awards for their leading performances, while the series also earned four credited wins in the Best Story (Original) category.

Category

Winner(s)

Series

Best Picture

Red Chillies Entertainments, Netflix

The Ba**ds of Bollywood

Direction

Aryan Khan

The Ba**ds of Bollywood

Performance in a Leading Role (Male)

Jaideep Ahlawat

Paatal Lok S2

Performance in a Leading Role (Female)

Tillotama Shome

Paatal Lok S2

Performance in a Supporting Role (Male)

Raghav Juyal

The Ba**ds of Bollywood

Performance in a Supporting Role (Female)

Anya Singh

The Ba**ds of Bollywood

Best Story (Original)

Sudip Sharma, Tamal Sen, Rahul Kanojia, Abhishek Banerjee

Paatal Lok S2

The awards also recognised documentaries, reality shows and music associated with digital entertainment. 'The Roshans' won Best Docuseries/DocuFilm, while 'The Traitors' received the award for Best Reality/Non-Scripted programme.

Ujwal Gupta was recognised in the Best Title Track category for 'Number 1' from 'The Ba***ds of Bollywood'.