At the IIFA 2027 press conference in Mumbai, Varun Dhawan made a simple claim: the awards stage has lost sight of cinema. The star’s appeal was not for another actor to be feted, but for the people behind the camera—the technicians and crew members who actually assemble a film—to be treated as central to the celebration.
“I feel that these days award shows, everything is not about films,” Dhawan said.
He added that awards should celebrate films, actors, performances and technicians, and noted that the recognition technicians once received has thinned.
A son of the craft makes the case
Dhawan framed his argument through family. His father, filmmaker David Dhawan, has spent decades in the Hindi film industry, and Varun described himself as “the son of a technician.” That detail changes the tone of the appeal: it is not a star asking for a polite nod to crew members, but an actor saying the industry’s foundational craft has slipped from view.
What Salman Khan said
Salman Khan, on stage during the interaction, interjected that things are already changing. Varun agreed, and tied the correction to the next edition of the awards. He said IIFA 2027 would be “only about films,” while acknowledging that sponsors remain part of the ecosystem. He also promised to be “a little unhinged and a little honest” as part of the hosting team.
IIFA 2027: dates, venue and reported line-up
- Dates: January 22 and 23, 2027
- Venue: Etihad Arena, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi
- Reported hosts: Varun Dhawan, Ananya Panday, Karan Johar and Maniesh Paul
- Expected performers: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Janhvi Kapoor
- First appearance: Rashmika Mandanna is set to make her IIFA debut, according to reports
Why recognition behind the camera matters
Hindi cinema’s public memory is shaped in large part by these broadcasts. When craft categories are truncated or handed out off-air, the show quietly teaches audiences that only faces matter. Dhawan’s intervention pushes back against that drift: a film is the work of many hands, and an award ceremony that claims to represent cinema should make that visible.
The test for IIFA 2027 will not be in the press conference. It will be in the telecast—in whether editors, sound designers, cinematographers and other below-the-line artists get the same ceremonial weight as the stars they work alongside.
Source: The Times of India
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