Devdas sweeps IIFA 2003 awards

Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas swept the IIFA 2003 Awards in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday.

Shah Rukh Khan, Aishwarya Rai and Bhansali won the Best Actor, Actress and Director awards, respectively, while Kiron Kher was adjudged Best Supporting Actress.

Dola re dola won the award for best lyrics (Nusrat Badr) and best female playback singer (shared by Shreya Ghosal and Kavita Krishnamurthi).

One of the first awards of the evening went to composer A R Rahman for Saathiya. Sonu Nigam bagged the male playback singer award for the film's title track.

Dev Anand was presented a Lifetime Award and Rekha the Special Diva Award.

"Johannesburg is the reason I am here. In 1969, when I signed my first film, Anjana Safar, the shooting took place in South Africa. I owe everything to South Africa," Rekha said.

Mohanlal won Best Supporting Actor and Jaideep Sahni won Best Story for their work in Ram Gopal Varma's Company.

The award for best performance in a comic role went to Mahesh Manjrekar for Kaante.

Akshaye Khanna won the award for best performance in a negative role for Humraaz.

The ceremony began with a homage to South African freedom fighter Walter Sisulu, who was buried a couple of hours earlier.

Lighting the lamp at the Domes Northgate Hall and greeting the audience with a namaste, South African Environment Affairs and Tourism Minister Mohammad Valli Moosa said the Indian movie industry was the only alternative to the cultural hegemony of the United States.

He said South Africa was the home of Mahatma Gandhi as well as Sisulu.

Condoling the demise of South Africa's 'father figure', Amitabh Bachchan said IIFA 2003 was being dedicated to the 'strong, friendly' ties between the two countries.