Homebound wins top honours, Abhishek, Geetha Kailasam, Jaideep Ahlawat win best actor
The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2025 became extra special this year as Aamir Khan, on Saturday morning, hoisted the Indian national flag at Fed Square to celebrate India’s 79th Independence Day.
The event saw the Australian Indian community gathering in large numbers to celebrate the occasion.
Australia’s High Commissioner to India, Philip Green OAM, took to his X account to share a video from the celebrations, describing how the “spirit of India flies high” as communities came together in Melbourne.
His post read, “From Mumbai to Melbourne, the spirit of India flies high! The Australian Indian community in Melbourne came together with pride to celebrate India’s 79th #IndependenceDay. Wonderful to see Indian actor #AamirKhan join the community at Federation Square for the flag-raising.”
Filmmaker Neeraj Ghaywan’s moving drama Homebound dominated the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2025 awards night, bagging the coveted honours of best film and best director.
Ghaywan’s movie, starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jetwa and Janhvi Kapoor, triumphed at the annual gala, which honours the best of Indian cinema on a global stage, on Friday night.
Homebound, which explores themes of belonging, displacement and the emotional complexities of returning home, will also serve as the festival’s closing film on August 24.
Apart from Ghaywan’s double win, the evening also saw Bollywood star Aamir Khan receive the prestigious Excellence in Cinema Award for his decades-long contribution to the industry.
Abhishek Bachchan was named best actor (Male) for his performance in filmmaker Shoojit Sircar’s “I Want to Talk”, while Geetha Kailasam won best actor (Female) for “Angammal”, which also won best indie film award.
On the streaming side, the best series award went to filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane’s Black Warrant. Jaideep Ahlawat was recognised as best actor (Male) for Paatal Lok season two, while Nimisha Sajayan earned best actor (Female) for Dabba Cartel.
The winners also included actor-comedian Vir Das, who received the Disruptor Award, Aditi Rao Hydari, honoured for Diversity in Cinema, and Arvind Swamy, recognised with the Leadership in Cinema Award.
The awards also spotlighted short films, with best short film (India) awarded to “Kalar Pencils” by Dhananjay Santosh Goregaonkar and best short film (Australia) to “Drifters” by David Liu. Now in its 16th year, IFFM is the largest Indian film festival outside India. It will conclude on August 24. (Agencies)