'Don't host': Salman Khan's funny advice to Varun Dhawan for IIFA Awards 2027

Superstar Salman Khan on Thursday had a tongue-in-cheek suggestion for Varun Dhawan ahead of his IIFA hosting debut—skip the six-hour job, perform a few dance moves and leave.

Salman appeared in a playful mood at the press conference to announce the upcoming 27th edition of the film gala, which will return to the Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, on January 22 and 23, 2027.

Salman Khan's advice to Varun Dhawan

"Don't host. It takes six hours to host. Just do this (dance moves) and leave. Let people do their respective job," Salman joked when asked what advice he would give Varun at the press conference here.

Varun, who will host the IIFA Awards 2027 alongside Karan Johar, Ananya Panday and Maniesh Paul, said the focus should be on films and emphasised the need to recognise technicians.

"In the word IIFA, the most important letter is F, which means film. Today, in film awards, except films, they talk about everything. We come here to celebrate film, actors, performers and technicians," he said.

"I am a technician’s son. I always feel that the importance technicians or the people who make films used to get earlier, which we don’t give now," he added.

Salman, who is also set to perform at the awards ceremony, interjected, saying that times had changed.

To this, Varun said, "Now Salman bhai has made sure they will get importance in IIFA 2027. We are going to make sure this is going to be only about films."

Pankaj Tripathi to host IIFA Digital Awards

The two-day event will also see actor Pankaj Tripathi hosting the IIFA Digital Awards 2027 for the first time, alongside his "Mirzapur" co-stars Ali Fazal and Abhishek Banerjee.

Pankaj confessed that he was scared of being a "host".

"I am scared because I am not used to it (hosting) and I speak slowly. Often, I see people in hosting people scream. I am scared to listen to my soft voice. I will do hosting which will look spiritual. It will feel like this man will transform our life today," he said.

He added that the language used during the ceremony would be dignified.

"Our language would be parliamentary, not like OTT (shows)," added.

Salman, Kareena, Rashmika and Shahid to perform

Apart from Salman, actors Kareena Kapoor Khan, Rashmika Mandanna and Shahid Kapoor are also set to perform at the film gala.

Rashmika said, "This is my debut and I'm very excited because we get to celebrate the technicians, the actors and everyone who come together to make a beautiful cinema and who have made the cinema industry today."

Shahid, Rashmika's co-star from "Cocktail 2", said he was excited to be in Abu Dhabi for the event, adding that his association with IIFA over the years had made the team feel like family.

"I've grown up in my work with IIFA, so it's always amazing. And we're going to have a lot of fun," he added.

Kareena said she was delighted to return to IIFA stage, where she has visited several times.