Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2023: 'Darlings' bags most nominations
The nominations for the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2023 in the theatrical release, as well as OTT categories, were announced on Friday, with films like Darlings, Monica, O My Darling, Ponniyin Selvan film series, and Kantara leading in most categories. This year, Oscar-winning Australian director Bruce Beresford has joined the IFFM jury panel. Take a look at the complete list of nominations.
Films that bagged most nominations in various categories
From the hundreds of films and series scrutinized by the panel, about 10 films were selected under each category. The maximum nominations were reportedly bagged by Alia Bhatt's maiden production venture Darlings, followed by Monica, O My Darling, Mani Ratnam's periodical drama Ponniyin Selvan series, and Rishab Shetty's Kantara. These films topped in various categories like best actor, best actress, and best film.
'Trial By Fire' leads with most nominations among web series
In 2023, the IFFM is entering the third year of its OTT Awards. As for the nominations in the web series categories, most nods were bagged by Abhay Deol starrer Trial By Fire, which premiered on Netflix. It was followed by Jubilee and Delhi Crime 2. For the nominations, only those web series whose streaming platforms were available in the Australian market were considered.
Nominations under Best Film category
Under the Best Film category, most nominations were bagged by Bollywood movies. However, films in other regional languages, such as Tamil, Telugu, and Punjabi, also made the cut. Here are the nominations: Bhediya (Hindi), Brahmastra—Part One: Shiva (Hindi), Darlings (Hindi), Jogi (Punjabi), Kantara (Kannada), Monica, O My Darling (Hindi), Pathaan (Hindi), Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 (Tamil), and Sita Ramam (Telugu).
'Gulmohar' nominated in indie film category
In the Best Indie Film category, at least 11 films have bagged nominations, including those made in Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, and Assamese languages. The nominations include Aatma Pamphlet (Marathi), Agra (Hindi), All India Rank (Hindi), Family (Malayalam), Gulmohar (Hindi), Hadinelentu [Seventeeners] (Kannada), Joram (Hindi), Pine Cone (Hindi), The Storyteller (Hindi), Tora's Husband (Assamese), and Zwigato (Hindi).
Nominations for best director, actors
In the Best Director category, Siddharth Anand (Pathaan), Anurag Kashyap (Kennedy), Ratnam (Ponniyin Selvan), and Nandita Das (Zwigato) are some of the nominees. For Best Actor (Male), Shah Rukh Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, and Vikram, among others, bagged nominations. Manoj Bajpayee received two nominations (Gulmohar and Joram). Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Bhatt, Bhumi Pednekar, Kajol, Neena Gupta, and Rani Mukherjee were nominated in the female category.
Nominations for best series, actors in OTT section
Dahaad, Delhi Crime 2, Farzi, Jubilee, and Trial By Fire are some of the shows that have been nominated in the Best Series category. Deol, Abhishek Bachchan (Breathe - Into The Shadows 2), Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi (Farzi), among others, are among the Best Actor (Series) nominees. Similarly, Rasika Dugal, Shefali Shah, Tillotama Shome, and Wamiqa Gabbi are some of the nominated actresses.
Everything about IIFM
IFFM, which celebrates Indian cinema, is the only Indian film festival that is backed by a foreign country's government. The committee went through hundreds of web series and films (released between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023) to finalize its nominations in different categories. The IFFM Awards 2023 are slated to be held on August 11 at the Hamer Hall in Melbourne.
