Asian Film Awards: 'Ponniyin Selvan: I' beats 'RRR' in nominations
The complete list of nominees for the 16th Asian Film Awards has been released. Ponniyin Selvan: I and RRR are the only two Indian films that have made it to the list, with Mani Ratnam's film bagging more nods than the SS Rajamouli directorial. The awards presentation ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 12 in Hong Kong. Check out the nominations here.
Why does this story matter?
Rajamouli's RRR has been making headlines around the world and has bagged nominations for the prestigious Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, apart from many other international awards. Ratnam's PS-I, on the other hand, has also tasted international success. Indians, globally, are rooting for RRR to win prestigious awards. Meanwhile, PS-I has bagged more nominations than RRR at the 16th Asian Film Awards.
'PS-I' leads with six nominations
PS-I, which starred Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Trisha Krishnan, and Karthi, among others, has been nominated in a total of six categories, including Best Film, Best Production Design, Best Original Music, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Costume Design. On the other hand, the Ram Charan and Jr. NTR starrer, RRR, was nominated in only two categories: Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.
Best Film and Best Director nominations
In the Best Film category, PS-I was nominated along with Decision to Leave, Drive My Car, Poet, and When the Waves Are Gone. As for the Best Director category, Hirokazu Kore-eda for Broker, Park Chan-wook for Decision to Leave, Ryusuke Hamaguchi for Drive My Car, Darezhan Omirbaev for Poet, and Davy Chou for Return to Seoul have been nominated.
Best Actor and Best Actress categories
Park Hae-il (Decision to Leave), Hidetoshi Nishijima (Drive My Car), Ryohei Suzuki (Egoists), Zhang Yi (Home Coming), Mohsen Tanabandeh (World War III), and Tony Leung Chiu-wai (Where the Wind Blows) are Best Actor nominees. Tang Wei (Decision to Leave), Sylvia Chang (A Light Never Goes Out), Karena Lam (American Girl), Happy Salma (Before, Now & Then), Chieko Baisho (Plan 75) are Best Actress contenders.
Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress
Those nominated for Best Supporting Actor include Masaki Okada (Drive My Car), Hio Miyazawa (Egoists), Im Si-wan (Emergency Declaration), Oh Kwang-rok (Return to Seoul), and Michael Hui (Where the Wind Blows). Sakura Ando (A Man as Rie Taniguchi Japan), Laura Basuki (Before, Now & Then), Kim So-jin (Emergency Declaration), Yin Tao (Home Coming), and Yuumi Kawai (Plan 75) are competing for Best Supporting Actress.
Best Screenplay, Editing categories
The Best Screenplay nominees are Autobiography, Decision to Leave, Drive My Car, Lighting Up the Stars, and When the Waves Are Gone. Best Editing contenders include Kim Sang-bum for Decision to Leave; Azusa Yamazaki for Drive My Car; A Sreekar Prasad for Ponniyin Selvan: I; Zhu Lin, Wei Yong, Gao Qiongjiali for Lighting Up the Stars; and Dounia Sichov for Return to Seoul.
Best Cinematography, Best Music categories
In the Best Cinematography category, Batara Goempar (Before, Now & Then), Kim Ji-yong (Decision to Leave), Lu Songye (One and Four), Hideho Urata (Plan 75), and Ravi Varman for (Ponniyin Selvan: I) have been nominated. As for the Best Music category, Jo Yeong-wook; Eiko Ishibashi; AR Rahman; Jérémie Arcache and Christophe Musset; and Bahman Ghobadi and Vedat Yildirim are competing.
Best Visual Effects and Sound awards
The films nominated in the Best Visual Effects category are Alienoid, Moon Man, RRR, Shin Ultraman, and Warriors of Future. On the other hand, Tu Duu-Chih for Anita, Kim Suk-won for Decision to Leave, Nomura Miki and Obo Tatsuya for Drive My Car, Vincent Villa for Return to Seoul, and Ashwin Rajashekar for RRR were nominated in the Best Sound category.
