Aamir Khan’s Rang De Basanti, directed by Rakesh Mehra bagged as many as 11 awards in various categories, including best film and best director, at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards here on Saturday night.
Hrithik Roshan walked away with the best actor trophy for Krrish while Rani Mukherjee got the best actress award for Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.
The almost four-hours awards ceremony, attended by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Praful Patel, top stars and technicians of Bollywood, was a razzle dazzle show with hi-tech lazer display, fireworks and brilliant compering by Bomman Irani and Lara Dutta.
The spectacular show was organised at the Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield about 40 km from Leeds. The stars, who are used to arriving late, were quite punctual this time perhaps because the event was being held in England.
The function went on till the wee hours of Sunday.
The three Lifetime Achievement awards this year were given to Deepa Mehta, Basu Chatterjee and Dharmendra.
Ms Mehta was honoured for her trilogy of films — Fire, Earth and Water, which have been internationally acclaimed for their sensitivity and brilliance. The award was presented to her by Shabana Azmi who acted in Fire.
Basu Chatterjee, the director who lets his stories and scripts corner the limelight and does not depend on commercial actors to market his movies was another notable winner while the loudest cheers were reserved for the veteran Dharmendra, who has been keeping away from the camera for many years now.
In a moving tribute to him, his co-artist and brand ambassador of IIFA, Amitabh Bachchan traced the actor’s career spanning nearly three decades in which he had acted with many heroines right from Meena Kumari to Sharmila Tagore and Hemamalini.
“I would like to acknowledge today that I would not have acted in Sholay but for Dharmendra. It was he who strongly recommended me to director Ramesh Sippy, said Amitabh who also regretted that they hardly meet these days though they are neighbours in Mumbai.
Responding, an emotional Dharmendra called both his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol to the stage and recalled his struggling days and his anguish that he was never considered a big star in Bollywood.
He said he’s like a lion and is all set to roar again with his new film Apne.
The grand finale also saw dazzling performances from stars Abhishek Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan and Bipasha Basu.
 Also shaking his legs was actor-MP Govinda, who proved that he can still give young actors a run for their money. 
While South Indian cinema went totally unrepresented, Shah Rukh Khan again kept away from IIFA.