Salman Khan starrer Dabangg swept the Awards at 12th IIFA Awards in Toronto

12th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards ceremony was organised in Toronto on 25 June 2011. The hosts Boman Irani and Ritesh Deshmukh engaged the audience with their witty banter and were joined by Shah Rukh Khan who returned to IIFA after six years. Sonu Nigam joined Jermaine Jackson, elder brother of the late Michael Jackson to play moving musical tribute to the legend at the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.

For the first time at the IIFA, Star Plus channel presented the Hottest Pair award for which 15 million votes were cast online. The hottest pair award went to Anushka Sharma and Ranvir Singh. The first ever Green IIFA Award by Panasonic went to actress Priyanka Chopra.

Special honours were conferred on veteran actor Dharmendra and singer Asha Bhosle. Veteran actor Dharmendra was presented with a lifetime achievement award for his 50 years of acting in Bollywood. Sharmila Tagore, who has won several Indian National Film Awards, was also presented an award for outstanding achievement.

Salman Khan starrer Dabangg directed by Abhinav Kashyap bagged seven major awards at the IIFA including the Best Film. Maneesh Sharma's Band Baaja Baaraat won three IIFA awards. My Name is Khan starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol also won accolades. Shah Rukh Khan won the Best Actor Award for his performance in the film.

Namrata Rao won the IIFA award for editing, Naharika Khan for costume and Vijay Dayal for best song Ainvayi Ainvayi in Band Baaja Baaraat. Pritam Das for best sound recording in Love, Sex aur Dhokha, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for background score in My Name in Khan.

The list of winners in the different categories is as follows:

Best Film: Dabangg
Best Direction: Karan Johar for My Name is Khan
Best Actor: Shah Rukh Khan for My Name is Khan
Best Actress: Anushka Sharma for Band Baaja Baaraat
Best Supporting Actor: Arjun Rampal for Rajneeti
Best Supporting Actress: Prachi Desai for Once upon a time in Mumbai
Outstanding achievement in international cinema: Irrfan khan
Best performance in a Negative role: Sonu sood for Dabangg
Best comic role: Riteish Deshmukh for Housefull
Best Debut (female): Sonakshi Sinha
Best Debut (male): Ranveer Sing

Debuting in 2000 in London, the IIFA's have been held on four continents in cities including Dubai, Bangkok, Colombo, Singapore, Macau and Johannesburg but never in India.