It was Bachchans all the way as the 10th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards concluded with expected results late on Saturday.

But some of the biggest names in tinsel town, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan, were conspicuous only by their absence at the ceremony — which marked the end of the three- day extravaganza in Macau.

It was left to Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan and hubby Abhishek Bachchan to try and fill the void.

Making grand entries during their acts, Abhi-Ash added some zing to the night which kicked off on a largely cold note with unimpressive performances by Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma and Jackky Bhagnani. Even Bipasha Basu’s performance left the audience wanting for more.

While Ash tried to recreate the Jodhaa Akbar magic, Abhishek—clad in a pink sherwani—made some cool moves on the stage on songs from Dostana and Delhi-6.

Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor were both scheduled to perform at the event initially, but they pulled out at the last minute.

However, the results threw up no surprises.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar swept most awards.

The Best Actor gong went to Hrithik Roshan for the film but Priyanka bagged the Best Actress award for her work in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Fashion.

On winning her trophy, Priyanka said: “I turned down Madhur thrice but he knew I could do it. Fashion has been one of the most difficult films for me.” The Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards went to Arjun Rampal (Rock On!) and Kangana Ranaut (Fashion).

But the highlight of the evening was when Rajesh Khanna received the Lifetime Achievement Award from his Anand co-star Amitabh Bachchan and the actor kept calling Big B babu moshai. “It has taken me 180 films to receive this trophy,” said Khanna, adding that he was proud of Big B.

“Look what babu moshai achieved through his hard work.” Abhishek won the Best Performance in a Comic Role award for Dostana. As the actor gave an emotional thank-you speech for his family, Jaya Bachchan couldn’t control her tears.

Aishwarya picked up two awards for Outstanding Achievement in International Cinema and the Female Actor of the Decade. Shah Rukh Khan won the Male Actor of the Decade while Rakesh Roshan and A.R. Rahman won Director and Composer of the Decade awards respectively.

Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan was declared the Best Movie of the Decade.

Jodhaa Akbar’s other honours included Best Direction (Ashutosh), Best Film, Best Art Direction (Nitin Desai), Best Music (A.R. Rahman), Best Lyrics (Javed Akhtar) and Best Male Playback Singer (Javed Ali for Jashn-e-bahara ).

Hrithik also won the Male Style Icon trophy while Akshaye Khanna scooped up the Best Actor in a Negative Role gong for Abbas-Mustan’s Race. Farhan Akhtar won the Best Newcomer Award (Male) for Rock On! while Asin got the Best Newcomer Award (Female) for Ghajini. Neeraj Pandey won the Best Story award for A Wednesday!, Shreya Ghoshal got Best Female Playback Singer trophy for Teri Ore in Singh Is Kinng. Jason West won the Best Cinematography award for Rock On! and Farah Khan was named the Best Choreographer for Desi Girl in Dostana.

- Indiatoday.com