'A Wednesday!' - Nominee for Best Film

With about one month remaining before the International Indian Film Academy Awards in Macau, China, several Bollywood stars were reportedly heading to Cannes, France to practice walking down a red carpet and mingling with fellow movie stars and filmmakers.

All joking aside, next month’s event has quite the lineup nominations for the star-studded award show. While announced two weeks ago, nominees are in full red carpet mode, now that the Cannes Film Festival is underway almost exactly one month prior to IIFA, which is scheduled to take place at The Venetian Macao on June 11 to 13th.

There are 13 major categories for which films and its associated talent is nominated for, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Score. The award show is not too different from America’s Oscar ceremony, which coincidentally crowned the Indo-British film Slumdog Millionaire as its Best Picture (among other honors).

Below is the list of nominees for the 13 major categories:

Best Film:

A Wednesday! – Psychological thriller drama about an about-to-retire police commissioner
Dostana ­– Bollywood’s answer to Chuck and Larry
Ghajini ­– An action-romance-thriller inspired by Christopher Nolan’s Memento
Race – A comedy-thriller based on the 1998 Hollywood Flick, Goodbye Lover
Rock On!! – Flick about four friends struggling to start their own band
Jodhaa Akbar – An epic period piece about Muslim Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great

'Rock On!!' - Nominee for Best Film

Best Director:

A.R. Murugadoss for Ghajini
Abhihek Kapoor for Rock On!!
Ashutosh Gowariker for Jodhaa Akbar
Neeraj Pandey for A Wednesday!
Madhur Bhandarkar for Fashion

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male):

Aamir Khan – Ghajini
Abhishek Bachchan – Dostana
Hrithik Roshan – Jodhaa Akbar
Naseeruddin Shah – A Wednesday!
Shah Rukh Khan – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female):

Asin - Nominee for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Jodhaa Akbar
Asin – Ghajini
Bipasha Basu – Race
Katrina Kaif – Singh is Kinng
Priyanka Chopra – Fashion

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:

Abhishek Bachchan – Sarkar Raj
Irrfan Khan – Mumbai Meri Jaan
Vinay Pathak – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi
Sonu Sood – Jodhaa Akbar
Arjun Rampal – Rock On!!

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:

Bipasha Basu – Bachna Ae Haseeno
Ila Arun – Jodhaa Akbar
Kiron Kher – Dostana
Shahana Goswami – Rock On!!

Tusshar Kapoor - Nominated for Best Actor in a Comic Role

Best Actor in a Comic Role:

Abhishek Bachchan – Dostana
Anil Kapoor- Race
Rajpal Yadav – Bhoothnath
Tejpal Singh – Jodhaa Akbar
Shreyas Talpade – Welcome to Sajjanpur
Tusshar Kapoor – Golmaal Returns

Best Actor in a Negative Role:

Imran Khan – Kidnap
Akshaye Khanna – Race
Paresh Rawal – Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!
Pradeep Rawat – Ghajini
Vishwas Badola – Jodhaa Akbar

Best Story:

Abhishek Kapoor – Rock On!!
Haidar Ali – Jodhaa Akbar
Kangana Ranaut - Fashion
Madhur Bhandarkar, Ajay Monga, Anuradha
Tiwari – Fashion
Neeraj Pandey – A Wednesday!
Shiraz Ahmed – Race

Farhan Akhtar - Nominated for Best Male Playback Singer

Best Music:

A.R. Rahman – Jodhaa Akbar
A.R. Rahman – Ghajini
Pritam – Race
Vishal Shekhar – Dostana
Shankar Ehsaan Loy – Rock On!!

Best Lyrics:

Javed Akhtar – “Jashn-E-Bahara” (Jodhaa Akbar)
Javed Akhtar – “Socha Hai” (Rock On!!)
Anvita Dutt Gupta – “Khuda Jaane” (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Jaideep Sahni – “Haule Haule” (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)
Sameer – “Pehli Nazar Mein” (Race)

Best Playback Singer – Male

Farhan Akhtar – Rock On!!
Atif Aslam – “Pehli Nazar Mein” (Race)
Javed Ali – “Jashn-E-Baharaa” (Jodhaa Akbar)
KK- “Khuda Jaane” (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Sukhwinder Singh – “Haule Haule” (Rab Ne Bana
Di Jodi)

Best Playback Singer – Female

Bela Shinde – “Man Mohana” (Jodhaa Akbar)
Monali – “Zara Zara Touch Me” (Race)
Shilpa Rao – “Khuda Jaane” (Bachna Ae Haseeno)
Shreya Ghoshal – “Teri Ore” (Singh is Kinng)
Sunidhi Chauhan – “Desi Girl” (Dostana)

Winners will be announced at an award ceremony on June 13th. The rest of the weekend will also feature a film festival and other special ceremonies. Stay tuned to Bollywood Buzzine for updates and complete coverage of award winners.