Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh’s Bajirao Mastani has scored eight nominations at the 17th edition of the NEXA International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain, next month.
Salman Khan’s Bajrangi Bhaijaan is following closely behind with seven nominations.
The four-day IIFA gala, which aims at bringing the magic of Indian cinema to a new foreign destination every year — thereby opening doors for Bollywood across the international market — will this year be held on June 23-26.
A runaway success, Shoojit Sircar-directed film Piku has six nominations and Farhan Akhtar’s Dil Dhadakne Do has five. Other notable mentions this year are Badlapur — Don’t Miss the Beginning, Talvar and Tanu Weds Manu Returns.
Priyanka Chopra and Tanvi Azmi, both of whom featured in Bajirao Mastani, have been nominated in the same category for their performances; supporting role — female. Other names who are nominated in this category are Anushka Sharma for Dil Dhadakne Do, Huma Qureshi for Badlapur — Don’t Miss the Beginning, and Konkana Sen Sharma for Talvar.
Playback singer Arijit Singh has been nominated twice in the playback singer- male category for his musical contribution in Hamari Adhuri Kahani and Roy.
Talented actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has garnered three nominations: performance in a comic role, performance in a negative role and performance in a supporting role — male.
“I am always astounded by the number of great films that are released each year that makes Indian cinema grow exponentially with the wealth of talent seen both on-screen and off.
“The nominations reflect a rich spectrum of the kind of cinematic aptitude Bollywood has seen this year. With the number of talented nominees in the popular categories, I urge fans to see their favourite stars and films win awards by voting soon,” said Andre Timmins, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the organisers of the event.
The nominees for the leading role male this year are Varun Dhawan (Badlapur- Don’t Miss The Beginning), Salman Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan), Amitabh Bachchan (Piku), Ranbir Kapoor (Tamasha) and Ranveer Singh (Bajirao Mastani).
The leading role female contenders are Priyanka Chopra (Dil Dhadakne Do), Shraddha Kapoor (ABCD 2), Deepika Padukone (Piku), Kangana Ranaut for (Tanu Weds Manu Returns) and Deepika Padukone (Bajirao Mastani).
The nominations for best picture and director include Kabir Khan (Bajrangi Bhaijaan), Shoojit Sircar (Piku), Meghna Gulzar (Talvar), Aanand L. Rai (Tanu Weds Manu Returns) and Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Bajirao Mastani).
The NEXA IIFA Awards 2016 will be hosted by Farhan Akhtar and Shahid Kapoor this year at IFEMA in Madrid. Besides hosting the highly anticipated awards night, Khan has also been nominated for his performance in a supporting role- male for Dil Dhadakne Do.
