The New Nation - Internet Edition

Entertainment Desk

'Chak De! India’ took home nine awards at Sunday's International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok, Thailand including top honours for best film, best director and best actor. Telling the story of a Muslim hockey captain once wrongfully accused of throwing a match for religious beliefs, the film and its multiple gongs served as a reminder that Bollywood is stretching beyond the high-production musicals that put it on the map and increasingly taking on tougher topics that attract a global audience. IIFA brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan in May the awards were being held in Bangkok this year in order "to try and make this a global effort; to build bridges rather than just make another awards ceremony."

The ceremony has been held in cities across the world from London to Johannesburg since its inaugural year in 2000.

The actor Vivek Oberoi offered complementary sentiments at the ceremony Sunday.

A winner for his performance in 'Shootout at Lokhandwala,' Oberoi noted Indian filmmakers' recent concentration on "more global concepts and ideas that reach beyond the borders of India because the viewership and the audiences have reached beyond the borders of India."

Anurag Basu's 'Life on atMetro,' the tale of interconnected lives some critics likened to the work of the American filmmaker Robert Altman, claimed two supporting acting honours and a screenplay gong.

Kareena Kapoor, meanwhile, won Best Actress for her portrayal of a bubbly Punjabi girl who meets her match in a depressing businessman on a sleeper train to Delhi in the romantic comedy 'Jab We Met.'

The splash of Bollywood song-and-dance familiarity wasn't entirely ignored, however. Farah Khan's 'Om Shanti Om,' the highest-grossing Bollywood production ever, grabbed five awards, mostly in crafts categories such as Best Art Direction and Best Costume Designing.

Ritesh Deshmukh and Boman Irani served as hosts for the ceremony, which was televised to 600 million viewers.

Picture: Chak De! India

Actor: Shah Rukh Khan (Chak De! India)

Actress: Kareena Kapoor (Jab We Met)

Director: Shimit Amin (Chak De! India)

Supporting Actor: Irrfan Khan (Life In At Metro)

Supporting Actor: Konkona Sen Sharma (Life In At Metro)

Performance in a Negative Role: Viveik Oberoi (Shootout at Lokhandwala)

Performance in a Comic Role: Govinda (Partner)

Story: Jaideep Sahni (Chak De! India)

Screenplay: Jaideep Sahni (Chak De! India), Anurag Basu (Life…in a Metro)

Music Direction: AR Rahman - Barso Re (Guru)

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar - Main Agar Kahoon (Om Shanti Om)

Male Playback Singer: Shaan - Jabse Tere Naina (Saawariya)

Female Playback Singer: Shreya Ghoshal - Barso Re (Guru)

Art Direction: Sabu Cyril (Om Shanti Om)

Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee (Chak De! India)

Costume Designing: Manish Malhotra, Karan Johar & Sanjiv Mulchandani (Om Shanti Om)

Editing: Amitabh Shukla (Chak De! India)

Makeup: Bharat-Dorris, Ravi Indulkar & Namrata Soni (Om Shanti Om)

Sound Recording: Manas Choudhary & Ali Merchant (Chak De! India)

Sound Re-recording: Anuj Mathur (Chak De! India)

Special Effects: Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. (Om Shanti Om)

Achievement in Indian Cinema: Mumtaz

Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema: Shyam Benegal

Outstanding Contribution by an Indian in International Cinema: A R Rahman.