Diljit Dosanjh: From red carpet glory to Emmy heartbreak

Actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh missed out on the Best Actor award at the 53rd International Emmy Awards 2025, where he was nominated for his performance in Imtiaz Ali’s Amar Singh Chamkila. The top honour at the 2025 Emmys went to Spanish actor Oriol Pla for Yo, adicto (I, Addict). Additionally, Amar Singh Chamkila also fell short in the Best TV Movie/Mini-Series.

Diljit, who won his first-ever International Emmy nomination this year, was seen gracing the red carpet alongside filmmaker Imtiaz Ali and others. The singer-actor made a striking style statement in a shimmery suit jacket paired with a crisp white shirt, a black bow, black trousers, and his signature black turban. Diljit Dosanjh’s nomination at the 2025 Emmys was seen as a major milestone for the country on a global stage, especially for a film that presented the legacy of Punjab’s iconic singer Amar Singh Chamkila to the world.

Besides Oriol Pla, Diljit was also competing against the likes of David Mitchell for Ludwig and Diego Vasquez for One Hundred Years of Solitude. Directed by Imtiaz Ali, the film tells the story of Punjab’s iconic folk singer Amar Singh Chamkila, called the Elvis of Punjab. Chamkila rose to fame in the 1980s for his bold songs , but his life was tragically cut short in 1988 when he and his wife, Amarjot Kaur, were killed at the age of 27.

In 2020, Delhi Crime made history by winning the Best Drama Series award, while comedian Vir Das won an Emmy in 2021 for his show Vir Das: For India.

And, the winners were:

Best Short-Form Series: La Mediatrice (The Mediator)

Emmys for Current Affairs: Dispatches: Kill Zone: Inside Gaza

Best Sports Documentary: It’s all over: The Kiss That Changed The Spanish Football

International Emmy for News: Gaza, Search For Life

Best TV Movie/Mini-Series: Lost Boys and Fairies

Best Non-Scripted Entertainment: Shaolin in Heroes: Denmark

Best Kids Animation: Bluey

International Emmy for Comedy: Ludwig

Best Performance By An Actor: Oriol Pla in Yo, adicto (I, Addict)

Best Performance by an Actress: Anna Maxwell Martin's (Until I Kill You)

International Emmy for Documentary: Hell Jumper

International Emmy for Telenovela: Deha The Good and The Bad

International Emmy for Drama Series: Rivals

International Emmy for Kids:

Live-Action: Fallen

Factual & Entertainment: Auf Fritzis Spuren – Wie War Das So In Der Ddr? [On Fritzi’s Traces – What Was It Like in the Gdr?]