IIFA 2011 Nominations Announced!

A couple days ago, the nominations for 11th annual IIFA  (International Indian Film Academy Awards) were announced. For those unaware, nominations are tabulated via voting from within the Indian film industry. This year, the ceremony will be held in Toronto, Canada in June. Here are the nominations for popular awards. My picks for each category (if I have one) are set in bold:

Best Film
Band Baaja Baraat
Dabangg
My Name is Khan
Once Upon a Time in Mumbai
Raajneeti

Best Direction
Maneesh Sharma (Band Baaja Baraat)
Abhinav Kashyap (Dabangg)
Sanjay Leela Bhansali (Guzaarish)
Karan Johar (My Name is Khan)
Milan Luthria (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)
Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan)

Performance in a Leading Role: Male
Salman Khan (Dabangg)
Hrithik Roshan (Guzaarish)
Shahrukh Khan (My Name is Khan)
Ajay Devgan (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)
Ranbir Kapoor (Rajneeti)

Performance in a Leading Role: Female
Anushka Sharma (Band Baaja Baraat)
Kareena Kapoor (Golmaal 3)
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Guzaarish)
Vidya Balan (Ishqiya)
Katrina Kaif (Rajneeti)

Performance in a Supporting Role: Male
Mithun Chakrobarty (Golmaal 3)
Arshad Warsi (Ishqiya)
Emraan Hashmi (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)
Arjun Rampal (Rajneeti)
Manoj Bajpayee (Rajneeti)

Performance in a Supporting Role: Female
Amrita Puri (Aisha)
Dimple Kapadia (Dabangg)
Ratna Pathak Shah (Golmaal 3)
Shernaz Patel (Guzaarish)
Prachi Desai (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)

Performance in a Comic Role
Paresh Rawal (Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?)
Johny Lever (Golmaal 3)
Riteish Deshmukh (Housefull)
Anil Kapoor (No Problem)
Pradhuman Singh Mall (Tere Bin Laden)

Performance in a Negative Role
Naseeruddin Shah (Allah Ke Banday)
Sonu Sood (Dabangg)
Emraan Hashmi (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)
Manoj Bajpayee (Rajneeti)
Ronit Roy (Udaan)

Music Direction
Salim-Sulaimaan (Band Baaja Baraat)
Sajid-Wajid & Lalit Pandit (Dabangg)
Vishal-Shekhar (I Hate Luv Stories)
Vishal Bhardwaj (Ishqiya)
Shankar Ehsaan Loy (My Name is Khan)
Pritam (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)

Best Story
Band Baaja Baraat
Ishqiya
My Name is Khan
Once Upon a Time in Mumbai
Udaan

Best Lyrics
Amitabh Bhattacharya- Ainvayi Ainvayi (Band Baaja Baraat)
Faaiz Awar- Tere Mast Mast (Dabangg) 
Gulzar- Dil Toh Bachcha (Ishqiya)
Niranjan Iyengar- Sajda (My Name is Khan)
Irshad Kamil- Pee Loon (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)

Playback Singer: Male
Vishal Dadlani- Adhoore (Break Ke Baad)
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan- Tere Mast Mast (Dabangg)
Shafqat Amanat Ali- Bin Tere (I Hate Luv Stories)
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan- Dil To Bachcha (Ishqiya)
Shankar Mahadevan- Uff Teri Adaa (Karthik Calling Karthik)
Mohit Chauhan- Pee Loon (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)

Playback Singer: Female
Sunidhi Chauhan- Ainvayi Ainvayi (Band Baaja Baraat)
Mamta Sharma- Munni Badnaam (Dabangg)
Shreya Ghoshal- Bahaara (I Hate Luv Stories)
Rekha Bhardwaj- Ab Mujhe Koi (Ishqiya)
Sunidhi Chauhan- Sheila Ki Jawani (Tees Maar Khan)

Screenplay
Dabangg
Guzaarish
Ishiqya
My Name is Khan
Once Upon a Time in Mumbai
Raajneeti

Dialogue
Habib Faisal (Band Baaja Baraat)
Dilip Shukla, Abhinav Kashyap (Dabangg)
Vishal Bhardwaj (Ishqiya)
Rajat Aroraa (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)
Prakash Jha (Rajneeti)

I hope this same thought is running through your head: WHERE IS KAJOL'S NOMINATION?! Not only did she do a stellar job in My Name is Khan, she actually won the Filmfare award for that same role earlier this year. How did Kareena's role in Golmaal 3 get her a nomination? And, just this once, I'll refrain from saying anything about Katrina Kaif. Kajol's lack of a nomination makes me lose a little respect for IIFA.

As you can tell from my picks, I have a clear bias toward My Name is Khan. Do you really blame me? That movie was wonderful. I'm really really hoping that Dabangg doesn't get that Best Film award like it did at Filmfare. I won't be surprised, however. Everyone else in the world (except me) seemed to love that movie. And Salman Khan is the new ambassador for IIFA.

How is Manoj Bajpayee nominated for his same role in Rajneeti in two different categories?

I'm almost certain Amrita Puri won't win that award for Best Supporting actress, but I still fell in love with her in Aisha.

I wonder if Munni and Sheila will share that Best Playback Singer award again...

What are your picks for IIFA 2011 winners?

Source: http://iifa.com/toronto2011/nominations.html#toplist