Pathaan To Kantara: Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2023 Nominations

The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) has unveiled the nominations list for its 14th edition.

The winners of the prestigious IFFM 2023 Awards will be announced during the festival, at their annual gala night on August 11, 2023, which is set to be hosted at the iconic Hamer Hall in Melbourne, one of the world’s most sophisticated concert halls. Check out the complete list of nominees:

Best Film
1. Bhediya – Hindi
2. Brahmastra – Hindi
3. Darlings – Hindi
4. Jogi – Punjabi
5. Kantara – Kannada
6. Monica, O My Darling – Hindi
7. Pathaan – Hindi
8. Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2 – Tamil
9. Sita Ramam – Telugu

Best Indie Film
1. Aatma Pamphlet – Marathi
2. Agra – Hindi
3. All India Rank – Hindi
4. Family – Malayalam
5. Gulmohar – Hindi
6. Hadinelentu (Seventeeners) – Kannada
7. Joram – Hindi
8. Pine Cone – Hindi
9. The Storyteller – Hindi
10. Tora’s Husband – Assamese
11. Zwigato – Hindi

Best Director
1. Anant Mahadevan – The Storyteller
2. Anurag Kashyap – Kennedy
3. Ashish Avinash Bende – Aatma-Pamphlet (Autobio-Pamphlet)
4. Devashish Makhija – Joram
5. Don Palathara – Family
6. Kanu Behl – Agra
7. Mani Ratnam – Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2
8. Nandita Das – Zwigato
9. Prithvi Konanur – Hadinelentu (Seventeeners)
10. Rima Das – Tora’s Husband
11. Siddharth Anand – Pathaan
12. Vasan Bala – Monica, O My Darling

Best Actor (Male)
1. Dulquer Salmaan – Sita Ramam
2. Kapil Sharma – Zwigato
3. Manoj Bajpayee – Joram
4. Manoj Bajpayee – Gulmohar
5. Mohit Agarwal – Agra
6. Paresh Rawal – The Storyteller
7. Rajkummar Rao – Monica, O My Darling
8. Rishab Shetty – Kantara
9. Shah Rukh Khan – Pathaan
10. Vijay Varma – Darlings
11. Vikram – Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2

Best Actor (Female)
1. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Ponniyin Selvan 1 and 2
2. Akshatha Pandavapura – Koli Esru
3. Alia Bhatt – Darlings
4. Bhumi Pednekar – Bheed
5. Kajol – Salaam Venky
6. Mrunal Thakur – Sita Ramam
7. Neena Gupta – Vadh
8. Rani Mukherjee – Mrs Chatterjee Vs Norway
9. Sai Pallavi – Gargi
10. Sanya Malhotra – Kathal

Best Series
1. Dahaad
2. Delhi Crime Season 2
3. Farzi
4. Jubilee
5. SHE Season 2
6. Suzhal: The Vortex
7. The Broken News
8. Trial By Fire

Best Actor (Male) – Series
1. Abhay Deol – Trial By Fire
2. Abhishek Bachchan – Breathe – Into The Shadows Season 2
3. Aparshakti Khurana – Jubilee
4. Prosenjit Chatterjee – Jubilee
5. Shahid Kapoor – Farzi
6. Sidhant Gupta – Jubilee
7. Vijay Sethupathi – Farzi
8. Vijay Varma – Dahaad

Best Actor (Female) – Series
1. Rajshri Deshpande – Trial By Fire
2. Rasika Dugal – Delhi Crime Season 2
3. Shefali Shah – Delhi Crime Season 2
4. Shriya Pilgaonkar – The Broken News
5. Sriya Reddy – Suzhal: The Vortex
6. Tillotama Shome – Delhi Crime Season 2
7. Wamiqa Gabbi – Jubilee

Best Documentary
1. Against The Tide
2. Dharti Latar Re Horo – (Tortoise Under The Earth)
3. Fatima
4. Kucheye Khoshbakht (And, Towards Happy Alleys)
5. To Kill A Tiger
6. While We Watched

The IFFM advisory committee, after careful consideration of hundreds of films and series from across Indian cinema, have finalised the nominations of films and series which have released between 1st June 2022 to 31st May 2023. Leading the pack in the film categories, including Best Film, Best Actor, and Best Actress, are notable productions such as ‘Darlings,’ ‘Monica O My Darling,’ ‘Ponniyin Selvan,’ and ‘Kantara.’ These films have captivated audiences with their stellar performances, engaging storytelling, and artistic excellence.

In the OTT category, series such as ‘Trial By Fire,’ ‘Jubilee,’ and ‘Delhi Crime Season 2’ have garnered the highest number of nominations.

This year, the festival proudly welcomes a new addition to its esteemed jury panel, the Oscar-winning Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford, renowned for directing acclaimed films such as ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ and ‘The Contract.’