Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2025 Nominations: Stree 2, L2 Empuraan Lead in Film Categories; Paatal Lok, Black Warrant Dominate OTT

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