Leaving behind the likes of Kangana Ranaut's "Queen" and Aamir Khan-starrer "PK", Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor's romantic comedy "2 States" is leading the nominations for the 16th edition of the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in categories like Best Picture, Best Director and Best Story.
Coming close on the heels of "2 States" is Vishal Bhardwaj's "Haider", with its nomination in eight categories, including Leading Role Male for Shahid Kapoor, and Kay Kay Menon in both Supporting Role Male and Negative Role.
"2 States", based on Chetan Bhagat's novel of the same name, will be vying for the Best Picture trophy with "Queen", "PK", "Haider", "Highway" and "Mary Kom".
Abhishek Varman, who made his directorial debut with "2 States", will be competing in the Direction category with Vikas Bahl ("Queen"), Vishal Bhardwaj ("Haider"), Rajkumar Hirani ("PK") and Imtiaz Ali ("Highway").
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In the Leading Role Male category, Shahid Kapoor ("Haider"), Aamir Khan ("PK"), Arjun Kapoor ("2 States"), Hrithik Roshan ("Bang Bang!"), Randeep Hooda ("Highway"), and Shah Rukh Khan ("Happy New Year") have been nominated.
Bollywood's "Queen" Kangana Ranaut will be contending for the Leading Role Female category against Alia Bhatt ("2 States"), Priyanka Chopra ("Mary Kom"), Deepika Padukone ("Happy New Year"), Rani Mukherji ("Mardaani"), and Anushka Sharma ("PK").
Actors nominated for the Supporting Role Male are Ronit Roy ("2 States"), Riteish Deshmukh ("Ek Villain"), Kay Kay Menon ("Haider"), Randeep Hooda ("Kick"), Inaamulhaq ("Filmistaan") and Naseeruddin Shah ("Finding Fanny").
The female contenders for the same category are Tabu ("Haider"), Amrita Singh ("2 States"), Lisa Haydon ("Queen"), Juhi Chawla ("Gulaab Gang"), and Huma Qureshi ("Dedh Ishqiya").
For the Comic Role trophy, Sharib Hashmi ("Filmistaan"), Sanjay Dutt ("PK"), Varun Dhawan ("Main Tera Hero") and Govinda ("Happy Ending") have been nominated.
Riteish Deshmukh for "Ek Villain", Nawazuddin Siddiqui ("Kick") and Kay Kay Menon ("Haider") are this year's contenders for Negative Role category.
Apart from the best director trophy, the multifaceted Vishal Bhardwaj will also be vying for the Music Direction category for his compositions in "Haider".
He will face tough competition from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for "2 States"; Mithoon ("Banjara", "Zaroorat" and "Hamdard"), Ankit Tiwari ("Galliyan"), Adnan Dhool (Soch) ("Awari"), Rabbi Ahmed ("Awari") for "Ek Villain"; and Mithoon, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Pritam and Arko Pravo Mukherjee for "Yaariyan".
Among competitors in the category for Best Story are "Queen", "2 States", Abhijat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani for "PK".
For the Lyrics category, Manoj Muntashir for "Galliyan" ("Ek Villain"), Rashmi Singh for "Muskurane" ("Citylights") and Amitabh Bhattacharya for "Mast magan" ("2 States") have been nominated.
In the Playback Singer Male category, Ankit Tiwari for "Galliyan" ("Ek Villain"), Arijit Singh for "Muskurane" ("Citylights"), Mika Singh for "Jumme ki raat" ("Kick"), and Sukhwinder Singh "Bismil" ("Haider") will be competing with each other.
In the female category of the award, the "Baby doll" singer Kanika Kapoor (for the film "Ragini MMS 2") has been nominated alongside Sultana and Jyoti Nooran for "Patakha guddi ("Highway") and Shreya Ghoshal for "Samjhawan" ("Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania").
IIFA will take place at Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from June 5 to 7 this year, rolling out a red carpet for a string of Bollywood celebrities.