Vidya Balan-starrer "Tumhari Sulu" has scored a maximum of seven nominations for the 19th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards, to be held in Bangkok next month. "Newton" comes a close second with five nominations.
A story of an ambitious and enterprising housewife, "Tumhari Sulu" finds a mention in the Best Picture, Best Direction and Best Story for Suresh Triveni, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) for Vidya, Performance in a Supporting Role (Female) for Neha Dhupia, Performance in a Supporting Role (Male) for Vijay Maurya and Best Music Direction.
Among the titles competing with "Tumhari Sulu" in the Best Picture category are "Bareilly Ki Barfi", "Hindi Medium", "Newton" and "Toilet - Ek Prem Katha".
The nominees for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male) are Irrfan Khan ("Hindi Medium"), Ranbir Kapoor ("Jagga Jasoos"), Adil Hussain ("Mukti Bhawan"), Rajkummar Rao ("Newton") and Akshay Kumar ("Toilet - Ek Prem Katha").
Late Sridevi's National Award winning performance in "Mom" has been nominated in the Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female), along with Vidya, Alia Bhatt ("Badrinath Ki Dulhania"), Zaira Wasim ("Secret Superstar") and Bhumi Pednekar ("Shubh Mangal Saavdhan").
Nominations for the Best Director category include Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari ("Bareilly Ki Barfi"), Saket Chaudhary ("Hindi Medium"), Anurag Basu ("Jagga Jasoos") and Amit V Masurkar ("Newton"), apart from Triveni.
The IIFA Weekend and Awards will be held from June 22 to June 24 at the Siam Niramit Theatre. Global voting for the awards went live from Tuesday.
Andre Timmins, Director, Wizcraft International, the producers and creators of the IIFA movement, said: "We are excited to offer a rich spectrum of nominees in the popular categories that reflects the talent our Indian cinema has to offer to global fans.
"With a stellar line-up of stars, performers and hosts, IIFA Weekend and Awards is all set to put on a show for the ages."
