Neeraj Ghaywan’s latest film Homebound, Amar Kaushik’s 2024 blockbuster Stree 2 and hit shows like Black Warrant and Paatal Lok 2 have bagged nominations for the 16th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, as per an announcement the organisers made on Monday.
The IFFM will take place between August 14 and August 24 in Australia.
Homebound, starring Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa, had its world premiere at the 78th annual Cannes Film festival in May, where it received a nine-minute standing ovation. Besides Homebound, nominees in the Best Film category are Kalki 2898 AD, L2: Empuraan, Maharaj, Meiyazhagan, Stree 2, and Superboys of Malegaon.
The Best Indie Film category includes Aranya Sahay’s Humans in the Loop, Fasil Muhammed’s Feminichi Fathima, as well as Tanushree Das and Saumyananda Sahi’s Bengali drama Baksho Bondi.
Other films in the category are Angammal, Boong, Village Rockstars 2, and We are Faheem and Karun.
In the Best Actor (male) category, Khatter and co-star Vishal Jethwa are nominated for Homebound. Aamir Khan's son Junaid Khan received a nod for his debut film Maharaj. The list also features I Want to Talk actor Abhishek Bachchan, L2: Empuraan star Mohanlal and Superboys of Malegaon actor Adarsh Gourav. Gugun Kipgen’s role in Boong earned him a nomination, while Manoj Bajpayee received a nomination for his role in The Fable.
Veteran actress Sharmila Tagore (Puratawn), Shraddha Kapoor (Stree 2), and Kareena Kapoor Khan (The Buckingham Murders) feature in the nomination list for Best Actor (female) category alongside Anjali Sivaraman (Bad Girl), Bhanita Das (Village Rockstars 2), Geetha Kailasam (Angammal), Shamla Hamza (Feminichi Fathima), and Tillotama Shome (Baksho Bondi).
The contenders for the Best Director award include Superboys of Malegoan helmer Reema Kagti, Homebound director Neeraj Ghaywan, Humans in the Loop director Aranya Sahay, Boong director Lakshmipriya Devi, We are Faheem and Karun director Onir, Village Rockstars 2 director Rima Das, Bad Girls director Varsha Bharath and Angammal director Vipin Radhakrishnan.
Black Warrant, Gyaarah Gyaarah, Kota Factory Season 3, Paatal Lok Season 2 and Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper are nominated in the Best Web Series segment. Shows Khauf, Manorathangal and Thallivattam Palayam also feature in the list.
In the Best Actor (female) Web Series, the contenders are Ananya Pandey for Call Me Bae, Monika Panwar for Khauf, Nimisha Sajayan for Dabba Cartel, Parvathy Thiruvothu for Manorathangal, Rasika Dugal for Mirzapur 3, Shabana Azmi for Dabba Cartel, and Tillotamma Shome for Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper.
Actors Abhishek Kumar (Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam), Ali Fazal (Mirzapur Season 3), Jaideep Ahlawat (Paatal Lok Season 2), Jitendra Kumar (Kota Factory Season 3), Mammootty (Manorathangal), Manav Kaul (Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper) and Zahaan Kapoor (Black Warrant) feature in the nomination list for Best Actor (male) Web Series category.
