Hit comedy film 3 Idiots starring superstar Aamir Khan took home most of the awards on offer at the annual IIFA awards, including best Indian movie.

The film directed by Rajkumar Hirani that revolves around the lives of three engineering students won 17 out of 31 awards, including best director, at the International Indian Film Awards held in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo, on Saturday.

It won eight of the 12 technical awards, including best screenplay, best cinematography and editing.

Kareena Kapoor, who starred in 3 Idiots, shared the best actress award with Vidya Balan who was in Paa, a film about a 12-year-old suffering from progeria, a rare, genetic disease that causes rapid aging.

The best actor award went to Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who played the child in Paa.

Hollywood makeup artists Christien Tinsley and Dominie Till bagged an award for their work on Bachchan's much older appearance.

Bachchan, the International Indian Film Awards' brand ambassador, was not at the awards ceremony. Neither were other big Bollywood names Aamir Khan and Shah Ruk Khan. All said they had prior commitments.

Bachchan's actor son Abhishek and daughter-in-law, former Miss World and actress Aishwarya Rai, also did not attend.