Mumbai: In the 13th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM), films such as Gangubai Kathiawadi, Badhaai Do, Jai Bhim, 83 and Minnal Murali and many others have been nominated in the Best Film category.
This year’s big nominees include the starring leads and filmmakers/producers of films like Jai Bhim, The Rapist, Gangubai Kathiwadi, 83, Badhaai Do, Sardar Udham, among others.
Indie films nominations have acclaimed films including Pedro, Once Upon a Time in Calcutta, Fair Folk amongst others, while Urf, Ayena, Ladies Only are some of the Best Docu nominees.
Winners of Best Film, Best Indie Film, and Best Documentary each win state-of-the-art cameras from Black Magic Design apart the award.
Another key highlight is that the Best Film winner automatically gets a nomination nod under the Best Asian Film category at the annual prestigious AACTA (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards).
This year too those awards will be included with Best Series, Best Actor in a Series and Best Actress in a Series. In these categories, Mumbai Diaries, Aranyak, Mai and Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein are leading the nominations.
Actors Gopal Hegde for Pedro, Rajkummar Rao for Badhaai Do, Ranveer Singh 83, Suriya, Tovino Thomas, Vicky Kaushal and Abhishek have been named in the Best Actor category.
While in the Best Actor (Female) section, names like Alia Bhatt, Deepika Padukone, Bhumi Pedenkar, Kokona Sen Sharma, Lijomol Jose, Shefali Shah, Sreelekha Mitra and Vidya Balan are nominated.
Pakistani film Joyland, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom from Bhutan, Bangladesh movies such No Man’s Land and Rehana Maryam Noor; and Sri Lankan film The Newspaper have made it to the Best Film From Subcontinent.
The festival, which is presented by the Victorian Government, is an annual festival that takes place in Melbourne, Australia, and showcases the best of films from India and the subcontinent. This year the festival starts August 12-20. The Awards night is all set to take place August 14.