IIFA 2025 Awards: Nitanshi Goel becomes youngest to win Best Actress; can you guess oldest winner

At the IIFA Awards 2025, actress Nitanshi Goel won hearts and headlines as she took home the Best Actress trophy. The 17-year-old won it for her role as Phool Kumari in Laapataa Ladies, directed by Kiran Rao.

Dressed in a striking ruby-red gown, she received the award from Bollywood icons Boman Irani and Bobby Deol. However, what truly stood out was her emotional response, which moved both the audience and viewers online.

"I dedicate this to my mom, to everyone who loved Phool, to those who accepted me--Nitanshi and Phool. A special thanks to Kiran (Rao) ma'am, Aamir (Khan) sir, and the entire team of Laapataa Ladies. And of course, the universe for making this happen," she said in a heartfelt speech.

With this award, she became the youngest to win an IIFA in the Best Actress category. She earlier became the youngest nominee for the category along with Zaira Wasim, who was nominated for Secret Superstar, also produced by Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao.

IIFA Awards: Best Actress winners in the past

Sridevi is the oldest winner in the category. The late actress won Best Actress for Mom at the age of 54. She is also the only actress who won the award posthumously. The oldest nominee so far is Neena Gupta, who was nominated for Badhaai Ho at 60.

Deepika Padukone happens to be the most-nominated actress in the category. The Pathaan actress has been nominated 11 times. Deepika has won the IIFA Awards for Best Actress twice, for Chennai Express and Piku.

Vidya Balan has won the award thrice. She won it first in 2010 for Paa (along with Kareena Kapoor for 3 Idiots), then in 2012 for The Dirty Picture and in the following year for Kahaani.

Alia Bhatt and Rani Mukerji have won it 4 times each, making them the actresses with the most number of wins in the category.

In 2000, when the IIFA Awards was organised for the first time, Aishwarya Rai won the Best Actress for Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam.