The Family Man 2 actors Manoj Bajpayee and Samantha Akkineni were among the winners of the latest edition of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne Awards. The IFFM 2021 were held virtually on Friday with several stars from various film industries in attendance. Tamil actor Suriya won the Best Performance Male for Soorarai Pottru, and Vidya Balan grabbed Best Performance Female for Sherni.

Samantha made her digital debut with Raj and DK’s The Family Man 2. The Telugu star who played the nemesis against Manoj Bajpayee in the Amazon Prime Video show said it was her first time at the festival and she was elated to get awarded for Best Actress in a Series. “To be here amongst such immense talent… I’m grateful and it’s such a huge honour. Thanks to Raj and DK to see past the cute girl image I have and to give me this role which is so different from what I have done so far. To give me this character that has so many layers and such diverse parts to it. It’s my big dive into OTT and what an amazing show to do it with,” Samantha said after her win.

This is Manoj Bajpayee’s second award at the film festival. He has previously won the Best Actor award for Gali Guleiyan in 2018. Baypayee reiterated his gratitude for the platform. Winning the Best Actor in a Series for The Family Man 2 today, Bajpayee added, “Cinema or series – are both highly collaborative. It’s highly embarrassing for me to take away the award to myself without mentioning everyone involved – Amazon, Raj, and DK. But it’s the writers for the series that make a lot of difference. It’s that team of writers, so thank you to them for giving me the space to become this character.”

Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru was also declared the Best Feature Film. Suriya, who took time off from his busy shooting schedule, accepted the awards for himself and his film. In his speech, he called Soorarai Pottru ‘a special film’. He also revealed that it was the first movie that came to him during the pandemic and this was the first award it was receiving. “I felt bored with what I was doing after having worked for 20 years. So thanks to my director Sudha Prasad – this film was her 10 years dream – she worked 4 years on writing for his film. The character of Maara will not be anything without her. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Here is the full list of winners of the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) 2021.

Best Feature Film – Soorarai Pottru

Best Performance Male (Feature) – Suriya Sivakumar (Soorarai Pottru)

Best Performance Female (Feature) – Vidya Balan (Sherni) & Honourable mention to Nimisha Sajayan (The Great Indian Kitchen)

Best Director – Anurag Basu (Ludo) & Honorary Mention Prithvi Konanur (Pinki Elli?)

Best Series – Mirzapur Season 2

Best Actress in a Series – Samantha Akkineni (The Family Man 2)

Best Actor in a Series – Manoj Bajpayee (The Family Man 2)

Equality in Cinema (Short Film) – Sheer Qorma

Equality in Cinema Award (Feature Film) – The Great Indian Kitchen

Best Indie Film – Fire in the Mountains

Diversity in Cinema Award – Pankaj Tripathi

Disruptor Award – Sanal Kumar Sasidharan

Best Documentary Film – Shut Up Sona

Pankaj Tripathi was given the Diversity in Cinema Award. He called the honour ‘inspiring for my craft’. Tripathi was honoured by filmmaker Anurag Kashyap. The ace actor credited Kashyap for giving him the big chance in his Gangs of Wasseypur. “The man who is here to give me this award. He is the one who discovered my talent. So thanks to Anurag Kashyap sir. He is the one who rediscovered my talent. So I’m grateful to you. I’m grateful to all my directors, writers for having me part of their projects.”

Eminent Indian artistes like Shoojit Sircar, Anurag Kashyap, Thiagarajan Kumararaja, Sriram Raghavan were amongst the presenters, along with Richa Chadha, Guneet Monga, Onir and others as jury members.