Andhadhun, Tumbbad, October and Raazi will compete for the big prizes at the first Critics’ Choice Film awards.
The nominations for the awards were announced today with Vidya Balan and director Zoya Akhtar as the invited guests.
A joint effort of the Film Critics’ Guild and the Motion Content Group, the awards will judge the best films across India in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada on the basis of their theatrical release in 2018.
Inaugurating the nominations for the first Critics Choice Film Awards, actress Vidya Balan hoped that the awards will bring back ‘credibility.
She said, “It does make me feel like there is some credibility in me also. Every time we don’t win an award, we say ‘Yaar, yeh sab bakwaas hai‘. But with all these guys involved, the best critics from across the country, we can hope for some credibility.”
While the best film nominations were predictable with Shoojit Sircar’s October, Sriram Raghavan’s Andhadhun, and Rahi Anil Barve’s Tumbbad competing with Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi and Amit Sharma’s Badhaai Ho, their directors also earned parallel entry to the nominations for Best Director.
The Best Actor and Actress nominations also had the usual suspects of Ayushmann Khurrana (Badhaai Ho, Andhadhun), Ranbir Kapoor (Sanju) and Ranveer Singh (Padmaavat) for the former and Anushka Sharma (Pari), Tabu (Andhadhun) and Alia Bhatt (Raazi) for the latter. Only Gajraj Rao (Badhaai Ho) and Vineet Kumar Singh (Mukkabaaz) brought in some variation in the former award.
It was the Best Song list that found a difference with Laila Majnu’s ‘Aahista’ and ‘Paintra’ from Mukkabaaz finding space alongside ‘Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hai’ from Manto, ‘Dilbaro’ from Raazi, and ‘Halla’ from Manmarziyaan.
The Tamil films Merku Thodarchi Malai and Pariyerum Perumal will compete against the more popular Vada Chennai for the Best Film award. In Malayalam, Lijo Jose Pelissery’s Ee Maa Yau will compete with Sudani From Nigeria and Eeda. The Kannada film nominations include Ammachi Yenba Nenapu, Nathicharami, and Ondella Eradalla.
Rewind 2018: Have you watched the Best Tamil Films of last year yet?
The awards ceremony will take place on 21 April. Following is the entire list of nominations.
Best Film
Andhadhun
Badhaai Ho
October
Raazi
Tumbbad
Best Director
Amit Sharma
Adesh Prasad and Rahi Anil Barve
Meghna Gulzar
Shoojit Sircar
Shriram Raghavan
Best Supporting Actor (Female)
Gitanjali Rao – October
Rasika Dugal – Manto
Surekha Sikri – Badhaai Ho
Swara Bhasker – Veere Di Wedding
Yamini Das – Sui Dhaaga
Best Supporting Actor (Male)
Abhishek Bachchan – Manmarziyaan
Jaideep Ahlawat – Raazi
Manoj Pahwa – Mulk
Pankaj Tripathi – Stree
Vicky Kaushal – Sanju
Best Actor (Female)
Alia Bhatt – Raazi
Anushka Sharma – Pari
Neena Gupta – Badhaai Ho
Taapsee Pannu – Manmarziyaan
Tabu – Andhadhun
Best Actor (Male)
Ayushmann Khurrana – Andhadhun
Gajraj Rao – Badhaai Ho
Ranbir Kapoor – Sanju
Ranveer Singh – Padmaavat
Vineet Kumar Singh – Mukkabaaz
Best Song
‘Aahista Aahista’ – Laila Majnu
‘Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hai’ – Manto
‘Dilbaro’ – Raazi
‘Halla’ – Manmarziyaan
‘Paintra’ – Mukkabaaz
Best Background Score
Daniel B George – Andhadhun
Amit Trivedi – Manmarziyaan
Jesper Kyd – Tumbbad
Best Writing
Sriram Raghavan, Arijit Biswas, Hemant Rao, Pooja Ladha Surti and Yogesh Chandekar – Andhadhun
Shantanu Shrivastav and Akshat Ghidial – Badhaai Ho
Raj Nidimoru, Krishna DK, Sumit Arora – Stree
Best Editing
Pooja Ladha Surti – Andhadhun
Nitin Baid – Raazi
Sanyukta Kaza – Tumbbad
Best Cinematography
Avik Mukhopadhyay – October
Sudip Chatterjee – Padmaavat
Pankaj Kumar – Tumbbad
Best Production Design
Rita Ghosh – Manto
Subroto Chakraborty and Amit Ray – Padmaavat
Nitin Zehani Chaudhry and Rakesh Yadav – Tumbbad
Best Film (Kannada)
Ammachi Yenba Nenapu
Nathicharami
Ondella Eradalla
Best Film (Tamil)
Merku Thodarchi Malai
Pariyerum Perumal
Vada Chennai
Best Film (Malayalam)
Ee Maa Yau
Eeda
Sudani From Nigeria