'Black', 'Kajra Re' rule roost at IIFA

Dubai, June 17 (UNI) Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black' ruled the roost at the seventh International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards bagging almost all trophies in the popular category, including the Best Picture award, here.

In a glittering fuction at the Airport Expo last night, Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee received the Best Actor and Actress award for their power packed performance in the flick while Sanjay Leela Bhansali was adjuged the Best Director. Bhansali did not attended the function as he was busy shooting his next venture 'Sawariya' in Mumbai. The award was collected on his behalf by his sister Bela Sehgal, who also won the Best Editor award for the same film.

Ayesha Kapoor, who played young Rani in 'Black', pipped stalwarts to win the Best Supporting Actor (female) trophy.

Abhishek Bachchan won the Best Supporting Actor (male) for 'Sarkar'.

Himesh Reshammiya was adjudged Best Singer (Male) for 'Aashiq banaya aapne' from the movie with the same name while Alisha Chinoy won the Best Playback Singer (female) for her hit number, 'Kajra re' in 'Bunty Aur Babli'. Gulzar won the Best Lyricist award for the same song.

Bunty Aur Babli's director Shaad Ali collected the award on Gulzar's behalf.

The trio of Shankar-Ehsan-Loy bagged the Best Music Director award for 'Bunty Aur Babli'. Vaibhavi Merchant walked away the Best Choreographer trophy for 'Kajra re'.

Among others, Vidya Balan (Parineeta) and Shiny Ahuja (Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi) won the Best Debut award among female and male respectively. Nana Patekar's role in 'Apharan' earned him the award for best performance in a negative role while the best comic performance was Javed Jaffri's in the movie, 'Salam Namaste'.

The star-studded extravaganza lasted nearly three hours and Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Hritik Roshan, Rani Mukerji et al enthralled the audience with their dazzling performances on stage.

Malayali superstar Mammootty, who was present at the function, made a strong case for all Indian language films.

UNI MR DH