








Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar arrives with his actress wife Twinkle Khanna at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok June 8, 2008. (Reuters Pics)
Bollywood actor Govinda and his wife Sunita arrive at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok June 8, 2008. (Reuters Pics)

Bollywood actor Arshad Warsi and his wife Maria Goretti arrive at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok June 8, 2008. (Reuters Pics)

Bollywood actor Fardeen Khan and his wife Natasha arrive at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok June 8, 2008. (Reuters Pics)
Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi arrives at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok June 8, 2008.(Reuters Pics)
Actress Dia Mizra talks to media as she arrives for IIFA. (AP Photo)
Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan arrives at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok. (Reuters Pics)
Bollywood actress Ayesha Takia arrives at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok June 8, 2008. (Reuters pics)
Bollywood actress Shriya Saran arrives at the 9th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Bangkok. (Reuters Pics)

Bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan, his wife Jaya Bachchan, son Abhishek Bachchan and his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan arrive the 9th IIFA awards in Bangkok. (Reuters Pics)

Bangkok: Chak De! India, which won critical acclaim and mass popularity, also swept the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) 2008 awards on Sunday night as it was named the Best Film.
Superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Shimit Amin lifted the Best Actor and Best Director trophies respectively for the film. Kareena Kapoor was named the Best Actress for Jab We Met.
However, Shah Rukh was not present at the gala and producer Yash Copra accepted the award on his behalf.
The film about a coach inspiring the Indian women's hockey team to victory also won awards for story and screenplay.
The Best Male and Best Female style icons were Abhishek Bachchan and Katrina Kaif, respectively.
Music composer AR Rahman was honoured for Outstanding Achievement by an Indian in International Cinema. And Om Shanti Om swept a number of technical awards.
While veteran filmmaker Shyam Benegal and Mumtaz, a popular star of the yesteryears, won the special honours for lifetime achievement, actor Akshay Kumar bagged the special award from the host country, Thailand.
The award for the Best Performance in a Negative Role went to Viveik Oberoi for Shootout at Lokhandwala, while the one for the Best Performance in a Comic Role went to Govinda for his performance in Partner.
Neil Nitin Mukesh was named the Fresh Face of the Year.
At the grand ceremony at Siam Niramik here, Karan Johar, Urmila Matondkar, Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh compered Bollywood's much awaited award ceremony.
It was the team of Boman and Ritesh that won the hearts of the audience with their easy repartee in a show that could, however, do with better management.