The Nominations for the 2009 International Film Academy Awards (IIFA) have been announced. The star studded event will be held during IIFA’s weekend in Macau from June 11th to the 13th. Amitabh Bachchan, Brand Ambassador for IIFA said at a press conference, “2009 celebrates a decade of IIFA Magic and promises to be yet another enthralling experience to be held at The Venetian Macao. Macau is an excellent choice for IIFA’s celebrations and we are excited to bring this grand event to this fabulous city.”
The Best Film category has quite the eclectic mix of genre of films and include A Wednesday!, Dostana, Ghajini, Jodhaa Akbar, Race and Rock On!!.
Four of the Best Film nominees’ directors have also been honored with a Best Director nomination: A.R. Murugadoss for Ghajini, Abhishek Kapoor for Rock On!!, Ashutosh Gowariker for Jodhaa Akbar, Neeraj Pandey for A Wednesday! and rounding out the list is Madhur Bhandarkar for Fashion.
Aamir Khan – Ghajini, Abhishek Bachchan – Dostana, Hrithik Roshan – Jodhaa Akbar, Naseeruddin Shah – A Wednesday! and Shah Rukh Khan – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi are the male stars up for Best Actor in a Leading Role.
In the female category for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan – Jodhaa Akbar, Asin – Ghajini, Bipasha Basu – Race, Katrina Kaif – Singh is Kinng and Priyanka Chopra – Fashion are all competing for the IIFA award.
Abhishek Bachchan is up for a second category in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in Sarkar Raj. Nominated along with him are Irrfan Khan – Mumbai Meri Jaan, Vinay Pathak – Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Sonu Sood – Jodhaa Akbar, and Arjun Rampal – Rock On!!.
Bipasha Basu is also nominated in a second category for her work as a Supporting Actress in Bachna Ae Haseeno. She is joined by Ila Arun – Jodhaa Akbar, Kiron Kher – Dostana, Shahana Goswami – Rock On!! and Kangana Ranaut – Fashion.
Make that three for Abhi because he is also on the list for his hilarious performance in Dostana in the Best Actor in a Comic Role category. He is up against Anil Kapoor- Race, Rajpal Yadav – Bhoothnath, Tejpal Singh – Jodhaa Akbar, Shreyas Talpade – Welcome to Sajjanpur and Tusshar Kapoor – Golmaal Returns.
Newcomer Imran Khan is nominated for his second role in Kidnap as Best Actor in a Negative Role. Akshaye Khanna – Race, Paresh Rawal – Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!, Pradeep Rawat – Ghajini, Vishwas Badola – Jodhaa Akbar are also up for this award.
Competing for Best Story are Abhishek Kapoor – Rock On!!, Haidar Ali – Jodhaa Akbar, Madhur Bhandarkar, Ajay Monga, Anuradha Tiwari – Fashion, Neeraj Pandey – A Wednesday! and Shiraz Ahmed – Race.
In the Best Music category AR Rahman was king with two nominations for the soundtracks of Jodhaa Akbar and Ghajini. Also nominated were Pritam for Race, Vishal Shekhar for Dostana and Shankar Ehsaan Loy for Rock On!!.
Master lyricist Javed Akhtar was nominated for two songs in the Best Lyrics category with ‘Jashn-E-Bahara’ (Jodhaa Akbar) and ‘Socha Hai’ (Rock On!!). Anvita Dutt Gupta – ‘Khuda Jaane’ (Bachna Ae Haseeno), Jaideep Sahni – ‘Haule Haule’ (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) and Sameer – ‘Pehli Nazar Mein’ (Race) also made the list.
Farhan Akhtar who sang all his songs in Rock On!! was honored with a Best Playback Singer – Male nomination for his performance on ‘Socha Hai’ and he is included in the esteemed company of Atif Aslam – ‘Pehli Nazar Mein’ (Race), Javed Ali – ‘Jashn-E-Baharaa’ (Jodhaa Akbar). KK- ‘Khuda Jaane’ (Bachna Ae Haseeno) and Sukhwinder Singh – ‘Haule Haule’ (Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi).
Finally, 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) and Sunidhi Chauhan – ‘Desi Girl’ (Dostana) are the songstresses up for Best Playback Singer – Female.
We will be sure to give you the scoop on who was there, who looked fab and of course who took home the prize so be sure to check back for our full report!
