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

According to a PTI report from Mumbai yesterday, 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 India.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 ten 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, followed 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 Bads 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 documentary category features ‘Chaar Phool Hain Aur Duniya Hai’, a portrait of late Jnanpith Award-winning author Vinod Kumar Shukla, alongside Hot Docs winner ‘I, Poppy’. In short films, ‘Aasmaani Jhoola’ and ‘Maaybaapache Aashirwaad’ lead with five nominations each.

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

Guild Chairperson Anupama Chopra said the range and ambition of submissions this year made deliberations “both challenging and immensely fulfilling.”