The countdown to India's prestigious awards ceremony, the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), has begun. Bollywood stars Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar will co-host the show, which will be held in Madrid, Spain, this year.

The star-studded IIFA 2016 will also witness power-packed performances by several Bollywood superstars like Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Sonakshi Sinha. It will be interesting to see Priyanka and Deepika in a Bollywood awards show as they have missed many due to their international commitments. Also, fans will be delighted to see Salman at the 17th edition of the IIFA celebration as he couldn't make it to the ceremony last year.

Scheduled to be held from June 23 to 26, the four-day extravaganza will include events like IIFA Rocks/MULA Fest, IIFA Stomp, an exhibition of urban trends and the magnificent IIFA Awards. Last year, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor had entertained the audience as co-hosts, but this year Shahid and Farhan are set to charm the audience at the event. The duo has also hosted IIFA in 2014.

"I am looking forward to hosting the IIFA Awards with Shahid Kapoor and enthralling the audience all over again. We had previously hosted the 14th IIFA celebrations in the US and had a wonderful time so I am really excited to relive the experience and spread the magic of Bollywood especially in Madrid, Spain. IIFA goes a long way in broadening the horizon for the Indian film industry and the celebrations are something that we all eagerly await and I am super excited to be a part of!" Farhan said in a statement.

Anil Kapoor and Farhan visited New Delhi on April 28 to attend the press conference of IIFA 2016. Last month, Hrithik, Anil and Sonakshi went to Madrid, to announce the venue and date of IIFA celebrations.

"Having worked in international films, I have noticed that IIFA goes a long way in bringing out the best of the Indian film industry and presenting it before the world on this great platform. I was also in Spain for the announcement recently to see the warm welcome by the fans of IIFA there; I was swept away," Anil said.