'Bajirao Mastani' sweeps technical awards at IIFA gala

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's historical love saga "Bajirao Mastani" has kept its golden run going at IIFA too. The period drama scooped the maximum awards in technical categories at the ongoing International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) gala here.

"Bajirao Mastani" brought Bollywood's talented trio -- Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Priyanka Chopra -- together to narrate the love story of Mastani, the second wife of Maratha Peshwa Bajirao I.

From cinematography, action, special effects to sound design, "Bajirao Mastani" got nine awards at IIFA Rocks - a part of the 17th edition of the four-day celebration - which was held on Friday night.

The evening saw musical megastars like Pritam, Kanika Kapoor, Benny Dayal, Neeti Mohan, Monali Thakur, Papon setting the rhythm for the extravaganza.

Stars like Shilpa Shetty, Ameesha Patel, Mouni Roy, Sooraj Pancholi, Eli Avram and Daisy Shah added the glamour quotient to the ceremony with their performance.

Among the winners for "Bajirao Mastani" were Sudeep Chatterjee (Best Cinematography); Saloni Dhatrak, Sriram Iyengar, and Sujeet Sawant (Best Production Design); Remo D'souza (Best Choreography award for "Pinga").

Sham Kaushal got the award for Best Action, Bishwadeep Chatterjee and Nihar Ranjal Samal for Best Sound Design, Tanay Gajjar got Best Song Engineer for "Deewani mastani", Sanchit Balhara got for Best Background Score, and Prasad Sutara ( from NY VFXWalla) took home the Best Special Effects (Visuals) trophy.

Fashion designer Anju Modi, who had told IANS earlier that she evolved as designer after working with Bhansali, got Best Costume Designing trophy. She shares the award with Maxima Basu.

The gala was hosted by actor Fawad Khan alongside filmmaker Karan Johar with guest host Manish Paul.

Other winners are - Kabir Khan, Parveez Shaikh, V. Vijayendra Prasad for Best Screenplay in "Bajrangi Bhaijaan", Juhi Chaturvedi for penning Best Dialogue for "Piku" and Vikram Gaikwad got Best Make Up award for Kangana Ranaut's look as Datto in "Tanu Weds Manu Returns".

IIFA Rocks has always been a star-studded affair with a mix of fashion and music. This year, alongside the gamut of musical acts and performances, fashion designer Vikram Phadnis showcased a breathtaking fashion show.

The four-day gala will conclude with an exuberant awards ceremony on Sunday.

(The writer's trip is at the invitation of the IIFA organisers. Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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