New Delhi: The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) has officially unveiled its power-packed nominations for the 2025 edition, celebrating the best in Indian cinema and streaming content. Now in its 16th year, IFFM stands as the largest celebration of Indian film outside India, and this year’s award contenders reflect the depth, diversity, and dynamism of Indian storytelling across languages and platforms.
Supported by the Victorian Government, the festival will run from August 14 to 24, with the highly anticipated IFFM Awards Night set for August 15, honouring cinematic excellence across film and OTT categories. Winners will be selected by an esteemed jury comprising some of the most respected names in Australian cinema and cultural landscape including Garth Davis, director of Dev Patel- Nicole Kidman’s LION, Theatre Director and Film Producer – Nadia Tass.
With projects considered from June 15, 2024 to June 14, 2025, and OTT nominations restricted to platforms available in Australia, this year’s lineup spans mainstream superhits, indie revelations, regional gems, and binge-worthy series.
Among the most-nominated films and shows are Superboys of Malegaon, Maharaj, L2: Empuraan. On the streaming front, Paatal Lok 2, CA Topper, and Manorathangal dominate the series categories.
Best Film
- Homebound
- Kalki 2898AD
- L2 : Empuraan
- Maharaj
- Meiyazhagan
- Stree 2
- Superboys of Malegaon
Best Indie Film
- Angammal
- Baksho bondi (Shadowbox)
- Boong
- Feminichi Fathima (Feminist Fathima)
- Humans in the loop
- Village Rockstars 2
- We are Faheem and Karun
Best Actor (Male)
- Abhishek Bachchan – I Want to Talk
- Adarsh Gourav – Superboys of Malegaon
- Gugun Kipgen – Boong
- Ishaan Khatter – Homebound
- Junaid Khan – Maharaj
- Manoj Bajpayee – The Fable
- Mohanlal – L2 : Empuraan
- Vishal Jethwa – Homebound
Best Actor (Female)
- Anjali Sivaraman – Bad Girl
- Bhanita Das – Village Rockstars 2
- Geetha Kailasam – Angammal
- Kareena Kapoor Khan – The Buckingham Murders
- Shamla Hamza – Feminichi Fathima (Feminist Fathima)
- Sharmila Tagore – Puratawn
- Shraddha Kapoor – Stree 2
- Tillotama Shome – Baksho Bondi (Shadowbox)
Best Director
- Aranya Sahay – Humans in the loop
- Lakshmipriya Devi : Boong
- Neeraj Ghaywan – Homebound
- Onir – We are Faheem and Karun
- Reema Kagti – Superboys of Malegoan
- Rima Das – Village Rockstars 2
- Varsha Bharath – Bad Girls
- Vipin Radhakrishnan – Angammal
Best Web Series
- Black Warrant
- Gyaarah Gyaarah
- Khauf
- Kota Factory Season 3
- Manorathangal
- Paatal Lok Season 2
- Thallivattam Palayam
- Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper
Best Actor (Female) – Web Series
- Ananya Pandey – Call Me Bae
- Monika Panwar – Khauf
- Nimisha Sajayan – Dabba Cartel
- Parvathy Thiruvothu – Manorathangal
- Rasika Dugal – Mirzapur 3
- Shabana Azmi – Dabba Cartel
- Tillotamma Shome – Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper
Best Actor (Male) – Web Series
- Abhishek Kumar – Thalaivettiyaan Paalayam
- Ali Fazal – Mirzapur Season 3
- Jaideep Ahlawat – Paatal Lok Season 2
- Jitendra Kumar – Kota Factory Season 3
- Mammootty : Manorathangal
- Manav Kaul – Tribhuvan Mishra CA Topper
- Zahaan Kapoor – Black Warrant