For three days (5-7 June), Kuala Lumpur was literally steeped in Bollywood flavour as almost every member of Hindi filmdom — actors, actresses, directors, singers, anchors and musicians — descended on the Malaysian capital. The occasion was the 16th edition of the India International Film Academy Awards — and its was nothing short of extravaganza.

As the show unfolded it seemed as if Kuala Lumpur was in for one massive but very welcome hangover and when Hrithik Roshan took to the stage outside a city mall and shook a legs for his Malaysian fans, the only chant from the crowd was, “Once more! Once more!” Whether day or night, there was an army of fans outside the JW Mariotte Hotel (where the stars were put up for three days) waiting to catch a glimpse of their favourites. There was even a Shahrukh Khan lookalike walking around and though they knew he wasn’t the “real deal” they still clamoured for selfies with the self-appointed stand-in. Of course, all of this made it very evident how popular Indian films are the world over.

The main IIFA show began on Sunday at the Putra Stadium in Kuala Lumpur and the place was jam-packed with a mixed crowd of Indians and Malaysians. The anchoring was done by the notorious duo of Arjun Kapoor and Ranveer Singh – notorious because they both have several FIRs lodged against them for their abusive language while anchoring the charity show, AIB Roast.

In a dramatic opener, Rakhi Sawant appeared along with Kapoor and Singh, singing, “Mere anmol, do Anmol Ratan ek hai Ram or ek Lakhan” and Ranveer was totally in his elements as he took pot shots at those who had raised objections to his AIB Roast anchoring. Starting with Aamir Khan, the duo stooped low in a show of saying “Sorry” and collectively sang, “Hame maaf karna Aamir Khan, phir nahi lenge Farida Jalal aur Reema Lagoo ke naam.” They then took a dig (not offensive) at the entire Bollywood fraternity. With perfect camaraderie, tongue-in-cheek comments and witty one-liners, the two kept the audience engaged all the time. For instance, they thanked Malaysia for giving IIFA this space but at the same time apologised for shooting a film like Roy in their city, which turned out to be a disaster at the box office. They then took on Anurag Kashyap&’s Bombay Velvet, with Ranveer saying, “Ranbir&’s name should have been ‘Roti’ in the film, as Anushka&’s character was called Rosy. Then we could have said Anurag ki rozi roti le li.” They called Shahid Kapoor “sabka ex” and carried on till three in ther morning!

In terms of winners, the anticipated ones took it all. Yes, Queen, Haider and PK won big time. Vikas Bahl&’s Queen bagged Best Film of The Year and another two major awards, Best Story (by Bahl, Chaitally Parmar and Parvez Shaikh) and Best Performance in a Leading Role (Female) that went to Kangana Ranaut. Shahid won Best Performance in a Leading Role (Male) for Haider, while Kay Kay Menon and Tabu bagged awards for Best Supporting Actors for the same film. Rajkumar Hirani won the Best Director award for PK.

This edition of the show also introduced many new awards like Best Regional Films, which was won by Riteish Deshmukh&’s Marathi movie Lai Bhaari, and Woman of the Year, which was given to Deepika Padukone. When she went up on stage to collect her award, rumoured lover Ranveer Singh presented her with a heart as well. Subash Ghai was awarded for his outstanding contribution to Indian cinema and a special tribute was paid to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge on its completion of 1,000 weeks through a performance by Arjun and Ranveer.

Apart from the anchoring, there were electrifying performances by Anushka Sharma, Sonakshi Sinha, Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan. In fact, Hrithik kept the audience wowed till the last award and “chocolate boy” Shahid Kapoor made a stage entrance on a bike and performed to songs from Haider. In her gig, Anushka Sharma donned a look from her Bombay Velvet but what the audience was waiting for was Hrithik – and he produced some great moves to songs from his latest movie, Bang Bang. And when he was done and gave his “thank you” speech, people wasted little time in vacating the venue.