IIFA Celebrates Indian Cinema’s Best with the 26th Edition Winners Announced
Discover the complete winners of the 26th edition, recognising excellence across Indian cinema and digital entertainment.
Released On
01/11/2026
The Best of Indian Cinema and Digital Entertainment
IIFA Awards 2026 and IIFA Digital Awards 2026 Winners Revealed
The International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Weekend & Awards Celebrates the Best of Indian Cinema as It Announces the Winners of the 26th Edition. Celebrating excellence across Indian cinema and digital entertainment, the IIFA Awards 2026 and IIFA Digital Awards 2026 recognise the exceptional talent, creativity and cinematic achievements that captivated audiences over the past year.
Recognising outstanding talent, creativity and cinematic excellence, the IIFA Awards 2026 honours the finest achievements in Indian cinema across the Popular Categories, Technical Categories, and Debut Categories – Best Male and Best Female.
IIFA AWARDS 2026
Dhurandhar emerges as a standout winner at the IIFA Awards 2026, earning recognition across direction, acting, original storytelling and music. Homebound celebrates three credited winners in the Best Story (Adapted) category, while Avatar: Fire & Ash is recognised in the Best International Film category, with three credited recipients.
Additionally, IIFA Awards 2026 celebrates emerging talent, honouring Rasha Thadani for Best Female Debut for Azaad and Ahaan Panday for Best Male Debut for Saiyaara, recognising two promising new talents making their mark on Indian cinema.
Dhurandhar leads the IIFA Awards 2026 Technical Category winners, earning recognition across cinematography, screenplay, dialogues, editing and sound design, while Chhaava shines with wins in sound mixing, background score and visual effects. War 2 also takes home the award for choreography for Aavan Jaavan.
IIFA DIGITAL AWARDS 2026
In the Film Category, Baramulla leads with wins for Best Picture and Best Story (Original), while Stolen earns recognition for Direction and Abhishek Banerjee’s performance in a leading role. Sanya Malhotra is honoured for her leading performance in Mrs, while Monika Panwar (Nishaanchi 2) and Avinash Tiwary (The Mehta Boys) win in the supporting performance categories.
In the Series Category, The Ba***ds of Bollywood makes its mark with wins for Best Picture and Direction for Aryan Khan, alongside supporting performance honours for Anya Singh and Raghav Juyal. Paatal Lok S2 also shines, with Jaideep Ahlawat and Tillotama Shome winning for their leading performances, alongside four credited winners for Best Story (Original).
In the Others Category (Best Docuseries/DocuFilm, Best Reality/Non Scripted, Best Title Track), The Roshans takes the spotlight in Best Docuseries/DocuFilm, while The Traitors is recognised in Best Reality/Non-Scripted. Ujwal Gupta wins Best Title Track for “Number 1” from The Ba***ds of Bollywood, celebrating the creativity and impact of digital entertainment across formats.
IIFA Awards 2026 — Popular Category Winners
| Category | Winner(s) | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Picture | Jyoti Deshpande Aditya Dhar Lokesh Dhar | Dhurandhar |
| Best International Film | 20th Century Studios (Distributors of India) Jon Landau James Cameron | Avatar: Fire & Ash |
| Direction | Aditya Dhar | Dhurandhar |
| Performance in a Leading Role (Female) | Aneet Padda | Saiyaara |
| Performance in a Leading Role (Male) | Ranveer Singh | Dhurandhar |
| Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) | Huma Qureshi | Jolly LLB 3 |
| Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) | Sanjay Dutt | Dhurandhar |
| 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 |
| Category | Winner(s) | Film | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lyrics | Irshad Kamil | Saiyaara | Saiyaara |
| Playback Singer (Male) | Faheem Abdullah | Saiyaara | Saiyaara |
| Playback Singer (Female) | Shreya Ghoshal | Saiyaara | Saiyaara Reprise - Female |
IIFA Awards 2026 — Technical Category Winners
| Category | Winner(s) | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Cinematography | Vikash Nowlakha | Dhurandhar |
| Screenplay | Aditya Dhar | Dhurandhar |
| Dialogues | Aditya Dhar | Dhurandhar |
| Editing | Shivkumar V. Panicker | Dhurandhar |
| Category | Winner(s) | Film | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| Choreography | Bosco Leslie Martis | War 2 | Aavan Jaavan |
| Category | Winner(s) | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Design | Bishwadeep Chatterjee | Dhurandhar |
| Sound Mixing | Alok De | Chhaava |
| Background Score | A.R. Rahman | Chhaava |
| Special Effects(Visual) | Assemblage Entertainment Redefine | Chhaava |
IIFA Awards 2026 — Debut Category Winners
| Category | Winner(s) | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Female Debut | Rasha Thadani | Azaad |
| Best Male Debut | Ahaan Panday | Saiyaara |
IIFA Digital Awards 2026 — Film Category Winners
| Category | Winner(s) | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Picture | B62 Studios Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP Jio Studios | Baramulla |
| Direction | Karan Tejpal | Stolen |
| Performance in a Leading Role (Female) | Sanya Malhotra | Mrs |
| Performance in a Leading Role (Male) | Abhishek Banerjee | Stolen |
| Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) | Monika Panwar | Nishaanchi 2 |
| Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) | Avinash Tiwary | The Mehta Boys |
| Best Story (Original) | Aditya Dhar Monal Thakkar Aditya Suhas Jambhale | Baramulla |
IIFA Digital Awards 2026 — Series Category Winners
| Category | Winner(s) | Film / Series |
|---|---|---|
| Best Picture | Red Chillies Entertainments Pvt. Ltd. Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP | The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Direction | Aryan Khan | The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Performance in a Leading Role (Female) | Tillotama Shome | Paatal Lok S2 |
| Performance in a Leading Role (Male) | Jaideep Ahlawat | Paatal Lok S2 |
| Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) | Anya Singh | The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) | Raghav Juyal | The Ba***ds of Bollywood |
| Best Story (Original) | Sudip Sharma Tamal Sen Rahul Kanojia Abhishek Banerjee | Paatal Lok S2 |
IIFA Digital Awards 2026 — Other Category Winners
| Category | Winner(s) | Film / Series |
|---|---|---|
| Best Docuseries/DocuFilm | Netflix Entertainment Services India LLP Rakesh Roshan Shashi Ranjan | The Roshans |
| Best Reality/Non Scripted | BBC Studios All 3 Media Prime Video | The Traitors |
| Category | Winner(s) | Film / Series | Song |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Title Track | Ujwal Gupta | The Ba***ds of Bollywood | Number 1 |
As IIFA celebrates the achievements of its 26th Edition, the global platform now turns the spotlight towards its next chapter.
THE MAGIC RETURNS TO ABU DHABI: THE 27TH IIFA WEEKEND & AWARDS
The 27th Edition Of IIFA Weekend & Awards Set To Take Over Etihad Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, On 22nd – 23rd January 2027
For MEDIA queries, please contact:
Archana Pradhan | Archana.pradhan@iifa.com | iifa.festivalpr@iifa.com | 9987099265
ABOUT IIFA (INTERNATIONAL INDIAN FILM ACADEMY)
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