New Delhi: The 17th edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) has announced its nominations, acknowledging some of the most popular films, performances, and filmmakers from across Indian cinema. With the support of the Victorian Government, this year’s film festival will start on August 13, 2026, and will continue till August 23, 2026.
In addition to the awards ceremony, the event will have special screenings, premieres, panel discussions, masterclasses, industry interactions, and cultural programmes.
Many different languages and movies are competing for the Best Film award. The movies that got nominated are Sitaare Zameen Par, Sharthopor, The Great Shamsuddin Family, Haq, Jarann, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, and Saiyaara. Because it did so well in theaters, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 has become one of the main competitors. The race for the Best Director award is also just as tough. The people who are nominated include Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Chandrasish Ray, Mohit Suri, Ramalingam Gowtham, Rima Das, Rishab Shetty, RS Prasanna, and Shazia Iqbal.
Some of the biggest stars in Indian movies are in the Best Performance (Male) category. The people nominated are Aamir Khan, Ahaan Panday, Bhuman Bhargav Das, Dulquer Salmaan, Mammootty, Ranveer Singh, Rishab Shetty, and Sanjay Mishra.
At the same time, the Best Performance (Female) nominees are Aneet Padda, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Kirti Kulhari, Neena Gupta, Rajshri Deshpande, Rani Mukerji, Rituparna Sengupta, and Yami Gautam Dhar. This year’s nominations are very important for Rishab Shetty because he got noticed as both a director and an actor.
The festival has also given awards for great work in online streaming. The Best Performance in a Series category has Ambrish Verma, Arif Zakaria, Barun Sobti, Kunal Kemmu, Paramvir Singh Cheema, Manav Kaul, Manoj Pahwa, Vijay Varma, Anandhi, Huma Qureshi, Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli, Mona Singh, Rasika Dugal, Seema Pahwa, Shefali Shah, and Swastika Mukherjee.
The choices for Best Series are Baai Tujhyapayi, Kohrra: Season 2, Matka King, Real Kashmir Football Club, Sapne Vs Everyone, The Ba***ds of Bollywood, Perfect Family, and Freedom at Midnight: Season 2.
An independent group of trusted people from the film industry and cultural groups in Australia will choose the winners for all categories. The awards will be given out during the last event of the festival later in August, as reported by IANS.
Curated by – Shahira Siddiqui
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