The 17th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is delighted to announce the official nominations for the IFFM Awards 2026, recognising the finest achievements in Indian cinema and streaming content over the past year. As the largest celebration of Indian cinema outside India, the festival continues to honour exceptional storytelling, outstanding performances, and creative excellence across languages, genres, and platforms. The festival will take place from August 13 to August 23, 2026, supported by the Victorian Government.
The nominations this year showcase the extraordinary depth, diversity, and dynamism of Indian storytelling, highlighting remarkable work from theatrical releases as well as the rapidly evolving OTT landscape. Spanning multiple Indian languages and representing voices from across the country, the nominees reflect a vibrant year for Indian entertainment that has resonated with audiences both at home and around the world.
As one of the first major awards of the season, the IFFM Awards have long helped set the tone for the year ahead. Renowned for their uniquely diverse nominations that span languages, regions, genres, and formats, the awards have established a benchmark for celebrating the richness and evolving landscape of Indian storytelling.
The winners will be chosen by an esteemed jury comprising some of the most respected names from Australia’s film industry and cultural landscape, ensuring a rigorous and globally informed evaluation of this year’s outstanding nominees.
Over the years, the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne has established itself as one of the world’s most significant platforms for Indian cinema, providing a unique cultural bridge between India and Australia. Beyond screenings and awards, the festival has become a global meeting point for filmmakers, artists, audiences, and industry leaders, fostering meaningful conversations and celebrating the richness of Indian storytelling in all its forms.
The 17th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne will feature an exciting programme of film premieres, special screenings, panel discussions, masterclasses, industry events, cultural celebrations, and the highly anticipated awards ceremony, reaffirming its position as a premier global showcase for Indian cinema.
Below are the nominations for the 17th edition of IFFM:
Best Film
Haq (Hindi)
Jarann (Marathi)
Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 (Kannada)
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (Malayalam)
Saiyaara (Hindi)
Sitaare Zameen Par (Hindi)
Sharthopor (Bengali)
The Great Shamsuddin Family (Hindi)
Best Indie Film
Ammang Haelbeda (Don’t Tell Mother) – (Kannada)
Full Plate – (Hindi)
Kikkran De Phull (Flowers of Acacia) – (Punjabi)
Lala and Poppy – (Hindi)
Mayilaa – Semmalar Annam (Tamil)
Members of the Problematic Family – (Tamil)
Not a Hero – (Assamese, Hindi, English)
Pankhudiyaan (Petals in the Wind) – (Hindi)
Best Director
Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari – System (Hindi)
Chandrasish Ray – Porshi (Bengali)
Mohit Suri – Saiyaara (Hindi)
Ramalingam Gowtham – Members of The Problematic Family (Tamil)
Rima Das – Not a Hero (Assamese, English, Hindi)
Rishab Shetty – Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 (Kannada)
R.S. Prasanna – Sitaare Zamen Par (Hindi)
Shazia Iqbal – Dhadak 2 (Hindi)
Best Performance (Male)
Aamir Khan – Sitaare Zameen Par (Hindi)
Ahaan Pandey – Saiyaara (Hindi)
Bhuman Bhargav Das – Kein Held (Not a Hero) – (Assamese)
Dulquer Salmaan – Kaantha (Tamil)
Mammootty – KalamKaval: The Venon Beneath (Malayalam)
Ranveer Singh – Dhurandhar (Hindi)
Rishab Shetty – Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 (Kannada)
Sanjay Mishra – Vadh 2 (Hindi)
Best Performance (Female)
Aneet Padda – Saiyaara (Hindi)
Kalyani Priyadarshan – Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra (Malayalam)
Kirti Kulhari – Full Plate (Hindi)
Neena Gupta – Vadh 2 (Hindi)
Rajshri Deshpande – Baapya (Marathi)
Rani Mukerji – Mardaani 3 (Hindi)
Rituparna Sengupta – Bela (Bengali)
Yami Gautam Dhar – Haq (Hindi)
Best Series
Baai Tujhyapayi (Marathi)
Kohrra: Season 2 (Punjabi)
Matka King (Hindi)
Real Kashmir Football Club (Hindi)
Sapne Vs Everyone (Hindi)
The Ba***ds of Bollywood (Hindi)
Perfect Family (Hindi)
Freedom at Midnight: Season 2 (Hindi)
Best Performance (Male) – Series
Ambrish Verma – Sapne Vs Everyone: Season 2 (Hindi)
Arif Zakaria – Freedom at Midnight: Season 2 (Hindi)
Barun Sobti – Kohrra: Season 2 (Punjabi)
Kunal Kemmu – Single Papa (Hindi)
Paramvir Singh Cheema – Sapne Vs Everyone: Season 2 (Hindi)
Manav Kaul – Real Kashmir Football Club (Hindi)
Manoj Pawa – Perfect Family (Hindi)
Vijay Varma – Matka King (Hindi)
Best Performance (Female) – Series
Anandhi – Arabia Kadali (Telugu)
Huma Qureshi – Maharani: Season 4 (Hindi)
Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli – Kuttram Purinshavan: The Guilty One (Tamil)
Mona Singh – Kohrra: Season 2 (Punjabi)
Rasika Dugal – Delhi Crime: Season 3 (Hindi)
Seema Pahwa – Perfect Family (Hindi)
Shefali Shah – Delhi Crime: Season 3 (Hindi)
Swastika Mukherjee – Kaalipotka (Bengali)
Best Documentary Film
Flying Tigers – Madhusree Dutta (Bengali, English, Mandarin, German, Polish)
Working Girls – Paromita Vohra (Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Bengali)
Loving Karma – Johnny Burke, Andrew Hinton (English, Monpa, Hindi)
Njaan Revathi (I am Revathi) – P. Abhijith (Tamil)
Breaking The Code – Ben Rekhi, Swetlana (English)
The Gas Station Attendant – Karla Murthy (English)
Music in a Village Named 1PB – Surabhi Sharma (Hindi)
Bride of Aravan – Lesley Branagan (Tamil)
Best Film from The Subcontinent
Sand City – Mahde Hasan (Bangladesh)
Roid – Mejbaur Rahman Sumon (Bangladesh)
Spying Stars – Vimukthi Jayasundara (Sri Lanka)
Ek Mutthi Badal (My Share of Sky) – Sahara Sharma (Nepal)
No Good Men – Shahrbanoo Sadat (Afghanistan)
Goodbye Sisters – Alexander Murphy (Nepal)
Delupi – Mohammad Touqir Islam (Bangladesh)
In The Room – Brishkay Ahmed (Afghanistan)
