'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' leads IIFA nominations

Zoya Akhtar's road movie "Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" is leading the nomination pack of the 13th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards with 14 nods, while Vidya Balan's "The Dirty Picture" follows closely behind with 13.

"Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara" has bagged nominations including best picture, best direction for Zoya Akhtar, best actor in a leading role for Hrithik Roshan. Abhay Deol and Farhan Akhtar have been nominated in best performance in a supporting role, male, while Kalki Koechlin has been nominated in best actress in supporting role, female.

Musical trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have been nominated for music direction, while Javed Akhtar for best lyrics for "Khaabon ke Parindey". The film has also been nominated in the best story category. Other nominations include technical categories.

Milan Luthria's "The Dirty Picture" has bagged 13 nominations including best actress for Vidya for playing southern sex symbol Silk Smitha.

Other nominations include best picture, best direction, best performance in supporting role male for Emraan Hashmi and Naseerudding Shah. Naseer has also been nominated in the best actor in a negative role category.

"The Dirty Picture" has also bagged nomination for best story, best lyrics and best playback singer male for Kamaal Khan for "Ishq Sufiyana".

Kamaal Khan will vie for the winner's trophy with Ash King for "I love you", Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for "Teri meri", Mika Singh for "Subha hone na de" and Mohit Chauhan for "Nadaan parindey".

Singer Shreya Ghoshal has bagged two nominations for her songs "Teri Meri" and "Ooh la la".

In best performance in the leading role male category, Hrithik will be competing along with Amitabh Bachchan for "Aarakshan", Salman Khan for "Bodyguard", Shah Rukh Khan for "Don 2", Ranbir Kapoor for "Rockstar" and Ajay Devgn for "Singham".

The nominations of best performance in a leading role female include Priyanka Chopra for "7 Khoon Maaf", Kareena Kapoor for "Bodyguard", Mahie Gill for "Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster" and Kangna Ranaut for "Tanu Weds Manu".

Those competing in best performance in supporting role female are Parineeti Chopra for "Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl", Swara Bhaskar for "Tanu Weds Manu", Sonali Kulkarni for "Singham" and Divya Dutta for "Stanley Ka Dabba".

The nominations for best performance in a negative role include Irrfan Khan for "7 Khoon Maaf", Boman Irani for "Don 2", Vidyut Jamwal for "Force" and Prakash Raj for "Singham".

"We at IIFA take pride in announcing the nominees for IIFA Awards 2012 which celebrate the best work done by the Indian Film Industry over the last year," Sabbas Joseph, director, Wizcraft International Entertainment said in a statement.

"We are thoroughly pleased with the nominees a result of the film industry's secret ballot; and we hope the audience will make a worthy choice in deciding the winners of this year's IIFA accolades," he added.