Indian Film festival announces IFFM awards judges and nominees

Melbourne: 2^nd August 2022 – Celebrating its thirteenth anniversary this year, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is thrilled to announce the 2022 IFFM Award Nominations, to be celebrated at their glamorous red-carpet gala event at the Palais Theatre on Sunday 14^th August. The IFFM awards highlight the best of Indian cinema and will feature a night of music and entertainment paying tribute to IFFM’s honoured international guests and nominees. Some of the confirmed guests for this year’s festival include Bollywood superstars Tamannaah Bhatia, Vaani Kapoor, Shefali Shah and renowned Indian director Kabir Khan. The star-studded event will be hosted by the charming Rithvik Dhanjani, and include performances from much loved local entertainment acts including 13 year old THE VOICE contestant, Janaki Easwar and Punjabi Australian singer, Parvyn. 

Today the festival has revealed the nominees who will be vying for a win at the most prestigious Indian cinema awards of their kind in Australia. The IFFM Awards jury panel is made up of an esteemed selection of Indian and Australian film legends and experts, including Cannes-prize winning documentary filmmaker Shirley Abraham, award winning director and screenwriter Geoffrey Wright, Australian film director and producer Nadia Tass, Oscar-winning editor Jill Bilcock, Australian actor Vince Colosimo, award winning journalist Anna M.M. Vetticad, and celebrated Indian film critics Rajeev Masand and Shubhra Gupta.  

Festival Director, Mitu Bhowmick Lange said, “In what is our thirteenth year of the festival, this year’s IFFM Award nominees reflect the strength and diversity of contemporary film culture from both India and the Indian subcontinent. It is such a joy to see this event take shape again in person after a very difficult two years for everyone. The theme Revival could not be more fitting!  We are again delighted to welcome our very honoured guests from India for this special night as we celebrate both the established and emerging talents of Indian cinema.” 

In the 75^th year of India’s independence, the festival is proudly presented by the Victorian Government via VicScreen  the principal partner of the festival. The IFFM Flag Hoisting Ceremony remains one of the pivotal events of the festival with thousands of people descending upon Federation Square to see their favourite stars hoist the Indian flag. This year the flag will be proudly raised by legendary Indian cricketer, Kapil Dev, who has been immortalised in Kabir Khan’s iconic film, 83. In other exciting news the festival is delighted to announce that Bollywood royalty, Abhishek Bachchan will be part of an already stellar line up of esteemed guests and join cricketer, Kapil Dev in raising India’s flag at Federation Square on Saturday 13^th August.  

Minister for Creative Industries Steve Dimopoulos said, “Every year, IFFM delivers an unmissable celebration of film, community and culture. We’re proud to have supported IFFM for over a decade and this year we look forward to another memorable festival. I invite all Victorians to join the fun and festivities that IFFM brings.” 

Other guests attending the festival this year include the award winning team of Joyland – who are the recent winners of the Cannes 2022 Jury Prize, the Un Certain Regard, and the Queer Palm at Cannes Film Festival 2022; Amazon series director of Mumbai Diaries 26/11 – director, writer, and producer, Nikkhil Advani; revolutionary Indian producer, Ronnie Lahiri; respected Chairman & CEO of International Media Acquisition Corp (IMAC) and film producer, Shibasish Sarkar; Founder & CEO of India’s premier content company, Abundantia Entertainment, Vikram Malhotra; visionary filmmaker, director and producer Shoojit Sircar; celebrated Indian director and director pf Amazon thriller, Jalsa, Suresh Triveni will also be part of IFFM Talks this year; the team from the bold and courageous team of the highly celebrated documentary Ayena (Mirror), consisting of Ritu Saini (film protagonist), Faraha Khan (film protagonist), Nilanjan Bhattacharya (editor); director of celebrated documentary Lords of Lockdown, Mihir Fadnavis; the team from The Maali (Gardener); the talented crew of Perianayaki consisting of Bala Murali Shingade (director), Shreya Gejji (producer), Shuchi Kothari (executive producer); the incomparable producers of W.O.M.B Women Of My Billion, including Apoorva Bakshi and Srishti Bakshi, who walked across Indian to raise awareness about violence against women in India.  

The 2022 IFFM Award Nominees are as follows: 

Best Actor 

1. Abhiskek Bachchan for Daavsi (Hindi) 

2. Gopal Hegde for Pedro (Kannada) 

3. Rajkummar Rao for Badhaai Do (Hindi) 

4. Ramnish Chaudhary for Jaggi (Punjabi) 

5. Ranveer Singh for 83 (Hindi) 

6. Suriya for Jai Bhim (Tamil) 

7. Tovino Thomas for Minnal Murali (Malayalam) 

8. Vicky Kaushal for Sardar Udham (Hindi) 

Best Actress 

1. Alia Bhatt for Gangubai Kathiawadi (Hindi) 

2. Bhumi Pednekar  for Badhaai Do (Hindi) 

3. Deepika Padukone for Gehraiyaan (Hindi) 

4. Konkona Sen Sharma for The Rapist (Hindi/English) 

5. Lijomol Jose for Jai Bhim (Tamil) 

6. Shefali Shah for Jalsa (Hindi) 

7. Sreelekha Mitra for Once Upon A Time In Calcutta (Bengali) 

8. Vidya Balan for Jalsa (Hindi) 

Best Film 

1. 83 – Director: Kabir Khan (Hindi) 

2. Badhaai Do – Director: Harshavardhan Kulkarni (Hindi) 

3. Gangubai Kathiawadi – Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Hindi) 

4. Jai Bhim – Director: T.J. Gnanavel (Tamil) 

5. Minnal Murali – Director: Basil Joseph (Malayalam) 

6. Paka (River of Blood) – Director: Nithin Lukose (Malayalam) 

7. Sardar Udham – Director: Shoojit Sircar (Hindi) 

8. The Rapist – Director: Aparna Sen (HindI) 

Best Documentary 

1. A Night of Knowing Nothing  

2. Ayena (Mirror)  

3. Kicking Balls  

4. Ladies Only  

5. Urf (A.K.A) 

Best Director 

1. Anmol Sidhu for Jaggi. (Punjabi) 

2. Aparna Sen for The Rapist (Hindi) 

3. Kabir Khan for 83 (Hindi) 

4. Pan Nalin for Chhello Show (Last Film Show) (Gujarati) 

5. Sanjay Leela Bhansali for Gangubai Kathiawadi (Hindi) 

6. Shoojit Sircar for Sardar Udham (Hindi) 

7. Suresh Triveni – Jalsa (Hindi) 

8. T.J. Gnanavel – Jai Bhim (Tamil) 

Best Indie Film 

1. Boomba Ride – Director: Biswajeet Bora (Mishing) 

2. Dug Dug – Director: Ritweek Pareek (Hindi) 

3. Jaggi – Director: Anmol Sidhu (Punjabi) 

4. Once Upon a Time in Calcutta  – Director: Aditya Vikram Sengupta (Bengali) 

5. Pedro – Director: Natesh Hegde (Kannada) 

6. Shankar’s Fairies – Director: Irfana Majumdar (Hindi) 

7. Shoebox – Director: Faraz Ali (Hindi) 

8. Fairy Folk – Director: Karan Gour (Hindi/English) 

Best Film from the Indian Subcontinent 

1. Joyland (Pakistan)  

2. Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)  

3. No Land’s Man (Bangladesh)  

4. Rehana Maryam Noor (Bangladesh)  

5. The Newspaper (Sri Lanka)  

IFFM’S STREAMING PLATFORM AWARDS: 

Best Series 

1. Aranyak  

2. Mumbai Diaries 26/11  

3. Fame Game  

4. Mai  

5. Little Things Final Season  

6. Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein 

Best Actor in a Series 

1. Mohit Raina in Mumbai Diaries 26/11  

2. Parambrata Chatterjee in Aranyak  

3. Varun Mitra in Guilty Minds  

4. Tahir Raj Bhasin in Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein  

5. Dhruv Sehgal in Little Things (Final Season) 

Best Actress in a Series 

1. Konkona Sensharma in Mumbai Diaries 26/11  

2. Sakshi Tanwar in Mai  

3. Madhuri Dixit in Fame Game  

4. Mithila Palkar in Little Things  

5. Raveena Tandon in Aranyak  

6. Shriya Pilgaonkar in Guilty Minds 

Equality in Cinema Award – winner to be announced  

IFFM Disruptor Award – winner to be announced 

Diversity in Cinema Award  – winner to be announced 

Leadership in Cinema Award – winner to be announced 

Throughout August, IFFM will take over multiple key venues in Melbourne’s CBD and suburbs including Federation Square, Arts Centre Melbourne, and the Palais Theatre. This year IFFM has chosen the Royal Children’s Hospital as its charity partner, and IFFM online viewers will be encouraged to donate to support this essential hospital service. 

Key Dates Announced: 

Friday 12^th August:  

• IFFM Press Conference, Melbourne CBD @ 10.30am 
• IFFM Special Event – In Conversation with Kapil Dev & Kabir Khan @ Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) @ 1.30pm 
• IFFM Opening Night @ Hoyts District Docklands @ 7pm 

Saturday 13^th August : 

• Flag Hoisting Ceremony for the 75^th Anniversary Indian Independence @ Federation Square, Melbourne @10.30am 

• Bollywood Dance Competition @ Federation Square, Melbourne @11.30am 
• IFFM Talks @ Arts Centre, Melbourne @ 3pm 

Sunday 14^th August: 

• IFFM Awards Night @ Palais Theatre, St Kilda @ 5.30pm 

Saturday 20^th August: