Saif Ali Khan, Karan Johar to host IIFA 2017, Varun Dhawan to co-host a segment 

Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan will join the inimitable Karan Johar to host the 18th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in New York next month. He says they have surprises in store.

Saif said in a statement, "I am happy to be back to the IIFA stage this year as I join my close friend Karan Johar to host the IIFA Awards in New York."

"The excitement for IIFA has been steadily growing worldwide. This year it's going to be super fun and glamorous in every way as Karan and I are going to have lots of surprises in store for our fans internationally," he added.

Bollywood's youth icon Varun Dhawan will make his IIFA Awards debut with a performance and also co-host a segment of the star-studded awards night on 15 July.

Varun said, "It's going to be a grand celebration and I can't wait to be there."

To be held at the MetLife Stadium, the IIFA gala will be a celebration of Indian film, music, fashion and dance.

It will feature performances by Bollywood stars Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, Katrina Kaif, Shahid Kapoor, Sushant Singh Rajput and Kriti Sanon, to name a few.

A day before the main awards gala, IIFA Rocks will regale the audience with a celebration of 25 years of Oscar winning talent AR Rahman. It will also feature a medley of musicians including Rahman, Diljit Dosanjh, Benny Dayal, Javed Ali, Neeti Mohan, Jonita Gandhi and Haricharan Seshadri.

Riteish Deshmukh and Manish Paul will host IIFA Rocks.

Organised by Wizcraft International Entertainment, this is the second time that the IIFA extravaganza is taking place in the US. It was earlier held in Tampa Bay in 2014.