IIFA Awards 2017: Sonam Kapoor's 'Neerja' wins Best Picture, AR Rahman honoured for musical contribution!

New Delhi: International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards is definitely one of the most celebrated events of Bollywood. Over the years, it has developed an unparalleled rapport among cinema lovers. IIFA 2017 New York, which was held recently, successfully lived up to the expectations and honoured the best of the Indian film fraternity.

'Neerja' turned out to be thebig winner when it took home the coveted award for Best Picture. It outperformed 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,' 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story,' 'Neerja,' 'Pink,' 'Sultan' and 'Udta Punjab' to bag the honour.

Moreover, congratulations are due for Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury after winning the Best Direction Award at the 2017 IIFA.

The 51-year-old film director stunned audiences with the Shoojit Sircar-produced film, which revolves around a courtroom drama about gender equality.

Other nominees in the field included Karan Johar for 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,' Neeraj Pandey for 'M.S. Dhoni,' Ram Madhvani for 'Neerja,' Ali Abbas Zafar for 'Sultan' and Abhishek Chaubey for 'Udta Punjab.'

Meanwhile, Shakun Batra and Ayesha Devitre Dhillon walked away with the award for Best Story.

Hosted by Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan and producer-director Karan Johar, the ceremony, which celebrates the achievements of Bollywood in different cities across the world, is a three-day extravaganza that started from July 13 and is being held at the iconic MetLife Stadium in New York.

The 18th edition of the Awards event kicked off with a fashion show and music in Times Square. On Friday, a concert was held honouring A.R. Rahman, the music composer who won two Oscars in 2009 for "Slumdog Millionaire." and a green carpet parade of stars in their finery was canceled at the last minute owing to the poor weather.

Check out the list of winners:

Award for Best Director - Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury for Pink. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/1xDoISHqBy — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best actor in a Leading Role - Female - @aliaa08 for Udta Punjab. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/Rf2k1zownL — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role - Male - @shahidkapoor for Udta Punjab. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/TUYYnaJ7do — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best performance in a Supporting Role - Female - @AzmiShabana for Neerja. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/elpLcRPaZq — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best picture - Neerja. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/dtQ29Y6L1B — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Story - @shakunbatra & Ayesha Devitre Dhillon for Kapoor and Sons. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/LoW1kiSJWd — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Best Performance in a Supporting Role Male - @AnupamPkher for M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/bo3ETMn3Ih — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Best Performance in a Comic Role - @Varun_dvn for Dishoom. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/RnF3rGroC7 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Ace musician @arrahman awarded for his 25 years of musical contribution. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/arWnayUGZ8 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Debutant - Male - @diljitdosanjh for Udta Punjab. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/rfxB1AkzRl — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Debutant - Female - @DishPatani for M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/VjIsT5Jmp9 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role - @jimSarbh for Neerja. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/QdkG0HUPxU — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for IIFA Woman of the year - @taapsee #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/wPUVbjZSNJ — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Music Direction - @ipritamofficial for Ae Dil Ha Mushkil. #IIFA2017 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Lyrics - Amitabh Bhattacharya for Channa Mereya - Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/RjA7AtWmGn — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Myntra Style Icon Award - @aliaa08 #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/jewfS2VYP9 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Female Playback Singer - @TulsikumarTK for Airlift. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/D1t6xevT81 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Award for Best Female Playback Singer - @TheKanikakapoor for Udta Punjab. #IIFA2017 pic.twitter.com/PKwOjRbd68 — IIFA Awards (@IIFA) July 16, 2017

Besides Bollywood celebrities, several Hollywood stars, including Angelina Jolie, action star Jackie Chan, Australian pop-star Kylie Minogue, British actor Colin Firth, Hollywood stars Hillary Swank, Kevin Spacey and John Travolta, have also been a part of IIFA in the past.

(With ANI inputs)