'Homebound', 'Black Warrant' lead Critics' Choice Awards 2026 nominations

Mumbai: Neeraj Ghaywan’s ‘Homebound’ and Vikramaditya Motwane’s crime thriller ‘Black Warrant’ emerged as the front-runners at the 8th Critics’ Choice Awards, with six and seven nominations respectively, the Film Critics Guild announced on Tuesday.

The annual awards, presented in association with ‘WPP Motion Entertainment’, cover feature films, web series, short films and documentaries, with voting conducted by 56 film critics from across the country.

In the ‘Feature Film’ category, ‘Homebound’ leads with six nominations, followed by Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Sundance-winning ‘Sabar Bonda’ and Raam Reddy’s ‘Jugnuma’ with three nominations each. Anusha Rizvi’s ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’, Mari Selvaraj’s ‘Bison Kaalamaadan’ and the BAFTA-winning Manipuri film ‘Boong’ received two nominations apiece.

The ‘Best Film’ category features 10 contenders, including ‘Homebound’, ‘Boong’, ‘Sabar Bonda’, ‘Jugnuma’, ‘Sthal’, ‘Ponman’, ‘Su from So’ and ‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’, among others.

On the acting front, Vishal Jethwa (‘Homebound’), Mammootty (‘Kalamkaval’), Basil Joseph (‘Ponman’), Mounesh Nataranga (‘Hebbuli Cut’) and Abhishek Banerjee (‘Stolen’) compete for ‘Best Actor’, while Priyanka Bose (‘Agra’), Geetha Kailasam (‘Angammal’), Yami Gautam Dhar (‘Haq’), Amruta Subhash (‘Jarann’) and Sharmila Tagore (‘Puratawn’) are in contention for ‘Best Actress’.

The ‘Best Director’ race features Lakshmipriya Devi (‘Boong’), Ghaywan (‘Homebound’), Aranya Sahay (‘Humans in the Loop’), Reddy (‘Jugnuma’) and Jayant Digambar Somalkar (‘Sthal’).

For ‘Best Supporting Actor’, Pasupathy (‘Bison Kaalamaadan’), Akshaye Khanna (‘Dhurandhar’), Dhritiman Chatterjee (‘Putulnacher Itikatha’), Dileesh Pothan (‘Ronth’) and Boman Irani (‘The Mehta Boys’) are in the running. The ‘Best Supporting Actress’ category sees Shalini Vatsa (‘Homebound’), Anita Date (‘Jarann’), Lijomol Jose (‘Ponman’), Sandhya Arakere (‘Su From So’) and Shreya Dhanwanthary (‘The Great Shamsuddin Family’) competing for the honour.

In the ‘Web Series’ category, ‘Black Warrant’ dominates with seven nominations, trailed by ‘Paatal Lok’ Season 2 with five and Aryan Khan’s ‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’ with four. Jaideep Ahlawat (‘Paatal Lok’ S2) and Manoj Bajpayee (‘The Family Man’ S3) headline the ‘Best Actor’ race alongside Zahan Kapoor (‘Black Warrant’), Roshan Mathew (‘Kankhajura’), and Amit Sial (‘The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case’).

The ‘Best Actress’ field includes Shabana Azmi (‘Dabba Cartel’), Surveen Chawla (‘Criminal Justice’ S4), Monika Panwar (‘Khauf’), Girija Oak Godbole (‘Perfect Family’) and Priyamani (‘The Family Man’ S3). In the ‘Best Director’ category, Motwane and his co-directors (‘Black Warrant’), Pushkar Sunil Mahabal (‘Black, White & Gray: Love Kills’), Pankaj Kumar and Surya Balakrishnan (‘Khauf’), Avinash Arun Dhaware (‘Paatal Lok’ S2) and Aryan Khan (‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’) are nominated.

The ‘Best Supporting Actor’ field includes Anurag Thakur, Paramvir Singh Cheema and Rahul Bhat - all from ‘Black Warrant’ - alongside Manoj Pahwa (‘Perfect Family’) and Raghav Juyal (‘The Ba***ds of Bollywood’). For ‘Best Supporting Actress’, Nimisha Sajayan (‘Dabba Cartel’), Geetanjali Kulkarni and Shalini Vatsa (both from ‘Khauf’), Tillotama Shome (‘Paatal Lok’ S2) and Seema Pahwa (‘Perfect Family’) are nominated.

The ceremony, which will be broadcast on ‘Sony LIV’, will also confer the Extraordinary Contribution to Cinema Award on veteran actress Farida Jalal.