The nominees for the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) 2019 and 2020 have been announced under various categories for all four south Indian languages— Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. The ninth edition of this award ceremony will be held on September 18 and 19 in Hyderabad. The 2020 ceremony was cancelled due to the pandemic, and the awards for 2019 and 2020 will be held in September.
Under the category of Best Film for 2019, Ajith and Nayanathara’s Viswasam, Mammootty’s Peranbu, Dhanush and Manju Warrier starrer Asuran, Karthi’s Kaithi and Sivakarthikeyan’s Namma Veettu Pillai are the nominees. In Telugu, Mahesh Babu’s Maharshi, Nani’s sports drama Jersey, Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Akkineni’s Majili, Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy and F2, which featured an ensemble cast of actors. The Kannada nominations for the year 2019 include movies such as Bell Bottom, Puneeth Rajkumar’s supernatural action film Natasaarvabhowma, Rakshit Shetty and Shanvi Srivastava’s fantasy drama Avane Sriman Nayarana, action drama Bharaate and Yajamana. Meanwhile, the list of nominees under Malayalam films included Prithviraj Sukumaran’s directorial debut Lucifer, Parvathy Thiruvothu starrer Uyare, critically acclaimed film Jallikattu, Fahadh Faasil’s Kumbalangi Nights, which also features an ensemble cast, and black comedy flick Unda.
For 2020, the list of Malayalam films included Prithviraj Sukumaran and Biju Menon’s Ayyappanum Koshiyum, Fahadh Faasil, Roshan Mathew and Dharshana Rajendran’s C U Soon, which was shot during the pandemic, psychological thriller Trance, crime thriller Anjaam Pathiraa and comedy drama Halal Love Story. Tamil movies Soorarai Pottru, which starred Suriya and Aparna Balamurali in the lead, Dulquer and Ritu’s Kannum Kannum Kollayadithaal, Aishwarya Rajesh and Vijay Sethupathi’s Ka Pae Ranasingam, rom-com Oh My Kadavule and crime thriller Kaaval Thurai Ungal Nanban were nominated for the 2020 awards. In Telugu, Allu Arjun and Pooja Hegde’s Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Mahesh Babu and Rashmika Mandanna starrer Sarileru Neekevvaru, romantic comedy Bheeshma, romantic drama Solo Brathuke So Better and the Tollywood remake of Malayalam movie Maheshinte Prathikaaram, Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya. The list of Kannada nominations include romantic dramas Love Mocktail and Dia, thriller Popcorn Monkey Tiger, comedy film French Biryani and thriller Act 1978.
Best Director
Tamil
2019: Lokesh Kanagaraj for Kaithi, Thiagarajan Kumararaja for Super Deluxe, Vetrimaaran for Asuran, Ram for Peranbu and Parthiepan for Oththa Seruppu Size 7.
2020: Sudha Kongara for Soorarai Pottru, AR Murugadoss for Darbar, Mysskin for Psycho and RS Durai Senthilkumar for Pattas.
Telugu
2019: Vamshi Paidipally for Maharshi, Nandini Reddy for Oh! Baby, Puri Jagannadh for iSmart Shankar, Anil Ravipudi for F2, Gowtam Tinnanuri for Jersey, and Shiva Nirvana for Majili.
2020: Trivikram Srinivas for Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Anil Ravipudi for Sarileru Neekevvaru, Venky Kudumula for Bheeshma, Venkatesh Maha for Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya and Indraganti Mohana Krishna for V.
Kannada
2019: Chetan Kumar for Bharaate, Jayatheertha for Bell Bottom, Hemanth M Rao for Kavaludaari, Pavan Wadeyar for Natasaarvabhowma and V Harikrishna & Pon Kumaran for Yajamana.
2020: K S Ashoka for Dia, Darling Krishna for Love Mocktail, Pannaga Bharana for French Biryani, Duniya Soori for Popcorn Monkey Tiger and Manso Re for Act 1978.
Malayalam
2019: Khalidh Rahman for Unda, Geethu Mohandas for Moothon, Aashiq Abu for Virus, Joshiy for Porinju Mariam Jose and Lijo Jose Pellissery for Jallikattu.
2020: Anwar Rasheed for Trance, Sachy for Ayyappanum Koshiyum, Midhun Manuel Thomas for Anjaam Paathira, Zakariya Mohammed for Halal Love Story and Mahesh Narayanan for C U Soon.
Best Male actor
Tamil
2019: Dhanush for Asuran, Vijay Sethupathi for Super Deluxe, Vijay for Bigil, Karthi for Kaithi, Ajith for Viswasam and Sivakarthikeyan for Namma Veettu Pillai.
2020: Dulquer Salmaan for Kannum Kannum Kollayadithaal, Suriya for Soorarai Pottru, Udhayanidhi Stalin for Psycho, Dhanush for Pattas, RJ Balaji for Mookuthi Amman and Ashok Selvan for Oh My Kadavule.
Telugu
2019: Mahesh Babu for Maharshi, Ram Pothineni for iSmart Shankar, Naga Chaitanya for Majili, Varun Tej for Gaddalakonda Ganesh, Nani for Jersey and Naveen Polishetty for Agent Sai Srinivasa Athreya.
2020: Allu Arjun for Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Mahesh Babu for Sarileru Neekevvaru, Sudheer Babu for V, Satya Dev for Uma Maheswara Ugra Roopasya and Nithiin for Bheeshma.
Kannada
2019: Darshan for Yajamana, Puneeth Rajkumar for Natasaarvabhowma, Srimurali for Bharaate, Rakshit Shetty for Avane Sriman Narayana and Rishi for Kavaludaari.
2020: Prajwal Devaraj for Gentleman, Danish Sait for French Biryani, Dhananjay for Popcorn Monkey Tiger, Darling Krishna for Love Mocktail and Raj B Shetty for Mayabazar 2016.
Malayalam
2019: Mohanlal for Lucifer, Asif Ali for Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha, Suraj Venjarammoodu for Vikruthi and Android Kunjappan Ver 5.25, Mammootty for Unda and Nivin Pauly for Moothon.
2020: Prithviraj Sukumaran for Ayyappanum Koshiyum, Fahadh Faasil for Trance and C U Soon, Tovino Thomas for Forensic, Biju Menon for Ayyappanum Koshiyum and Kunchacko Boban for Anjaam Paathira.
Best Female actor
Tamil
2019: Nayanthara for Viswasam, Amala Paul for Aadai, Tamannaah for Kanne Kalaimane, Manju Warrier for Asuran and Jyothika for Raatchasi.
2020: Keerthy Suresh for Penguin, Nayanthara for Mookuthi Amman, Aishwarya Rajesh for Ka Pae Ranasingam, Aparna Balamurali for Soorarai Pottru and Sneha for Pattas.
Telugu
2019: Pooja Hegde for Maharshi, Samantha for Oh! Baby, Shraddha Srinath for Jersey, Rashmika Mandanna for Dear Comrade, and Raashi Khanna for Prathi Roju Pandage.
2020: Pooja Hegde for Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Rashmika Mandanna for Sarileru Neekevvaru, Nabha Natesh for Solo Brathuke So Better, Aishwarya Rajesh for World Famous Lover and Chandini Chowdary for Colour Photo.
Kannada
2019: Rashmika Mandanna for Yajamana, Shanvi Srivastava for Avane Sriman Narayana, Anupama Parameswaran for Natasaarvabhowma, Radhika Narayan for Mundina Nildana and Rachita Ram for Ayushmanbhava.
2020: Nivedhitha for Popcorn Monkey Tiger, Kushee Ravi for Dia, Milana Nagaraj for Love Mocktail, Yagna Shetty for Act 1978 and Nishvika Naidu for Gentleman.
Malayalam
2019: Parvathy for Uyare, Anna Ben for Helen, Rajisha Vijayan for June, Nimisha Sajayan for Chola and Manju Warrier for Prathi Poovankozhi and Lucifer.
2020: Anna Ben for Kappela, Mamta Mohandas for Forensic, Darshana Rajendran for C U Soon, Shobana for Varane Avashyamund and Anupama Parameswaran for Maniyarayile Ashokan.
Best Music Director
Tamil
2019: Anirudh Ravichander for Petta, Imman for Viswasam, GV Prakash for Asuran, AR Rahman for Bigil and Yuvan Shankar Raja for Peranbu.
2020: Ilaiyaraaja for Psycho, GV Prakash Kumar for Soorarai Pottru, Leon James for Oh My Kadavule, Santhosh Narayanan for Gypsy and Masala Coffee for Kannum Kannum Kollyadithaal.
Telugu
2019: Mani Sharma for iSmart Shankar, Anirudh Ravichander for Jersey, Gopi Sundar for Majili, DSP for Maharshi and Mickey J Meyer for Gaddalakonda Ganesh.
2020: Devi Sri Prasad for Sarileru Neekevvaru, S Thaman for Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Mahati Swara Sagar for Bheeshma, Amit Trivedi for V and Kaala Bhairava for Colour Photo.
Kannada
2019: Arjun Janya for Bharaate, Ajaneesh Lokanath and Charan Raj for Avane Sriman Narayana, D Imman for Natasaarvabhowma, V Harikrishna for Yajamana and Charan Raj for Kavaludaari.
2020: Udit Haritas for Arishadvarga, Raghu Dixit for Love Mocktail, Ajaneesh Lokanath for Dia, Vasuki Vaibhav for French Biryani and Charan Raj for Popcorn Monkey Tiger.
Malayalam
2019: Vishnu Vijay for Ambili, Sushin Shyam for Kumbalangi Nights, Shaan Rahman for Love Action Drama and Helen, Jakes Bejoy for Ishq and Gopi Sundar for Uyare.
2020: Sushin Shyam for Kappela, Jakes Bejoy for Ayyappanum Koshiyum, Jackson Vijayan for Trance, Alphons Joseph for Varane Avashyamundu and Sooraj S Kurup for Kilometers & Kilometers.
Read the nominations for all categories of the SIIMA Awards here.