Bollywood Awards 2019: Rani or Kangana? Rap or Niyam ho? Ayushmann or Ranveer? A pick of the year’s best work

 As a sequel to my list of Best Bollywood Films 2019 , here is what I like to call my Bollywood Awards 2019 (insert smiling emoji here). Meaning: this is my personal pick of the best actors, directors, songs and technicians – nominees and winners – in categories generally recognised at most film awards worldwide. Every list has parameters, here are mine. India as a whole is the largest producer of films worldwide, and Bollywood is a popular nickname for one of the country’s largest film industries, that is, the Mumbai-based industry that makes films almost entirely in the Hindi language. This article features selections from Bollywood, which means they have all been backed by a Bollywood producer. I will shortly be publishing a selection from the Kerala-based industry a.k.a. Mollywood that makes films primarily in the Malayalam language. For practical reasons, I have made my choices from among films released in mainstream theatres, not festivals alone, and for the moment not direct-to-online releases either although next year I will probably include the latter too.    There are anywhere from four to seven nominees in each category, all arranged in alphabetical order.  [caption id=“attachment_7837551” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Stills from Article 15 (L), Mardaani 2, Gully Boy and Judgementall Hai Kya (R).[/caption] In terms of quality of films released, Bollywood has performed terribly in 2019. Where I could not find even four films to nominate in any particular category, I have dropped that category entirely. This is why you will not find a Best Music section here. Lists such as this one tend to be contentious. I hope mine will spawn debates, but not acrimony. More important, I hope it introduces readers to some lesser-known gems you missed during the year and prompts you to seek them out. BEST FILM  Nominees (all nominee lists are in alphabetical order):  Article 15 _Gully Boy_ Mardaani 2 Sonchiriya _The Sky Is Pink_   And the award goes to… Article 15   BEST DIRECTOR  Nominees:  Abhishek Chaubey (Sonchiriya) Anubhav Sinha (Article 15) Gopi Puthran (Mardaani 2)  Shonali Bose (The Sky Is Pink) Zoya Akhtar (Gully Boy) And the award goes to…  Anubhav Sinha (Article 15)   **BEST WRITING **  **Nominees: **  Article 15: Anubhav Sinha, Gaurav Solanki Gully Boy: Reema Kagti, Zoya Akhtar Mardaani 2: Gopi Puthran Sonchiriya: Abhishek Chaubey, Sudip Sharma The Sky Is Pink: Shonali Bose, Nilesh Maniyar  And the award goes to…  Article 15: Anubhav Sinha, Gaurav Solanki   BEST ACTOR (FEMALE)   Nominees:  Alia Bhatt ( Kalank ) Kangana Ranaut ( Judgementall Hai Kya )  Priyanka Chopra Jonas (The Sky Is Pink) Rani Mukerji (Mardaani 2) Vidya Balan ( _Mission Mangal_) And the award goes to…  Rani Mukerji (Mardaani 2)   BEST ACTOR (MALE)    Ayushmann Khurrana (Article 15)  Rajkummar Rao (Judgementall Hai Kya) Rajkummar Rao ( _Made_ _I__n Ch__i__na_ )  Ranveer Singh (Gully Boy) Sushant Singh Rajput (Sonchiriya)  And the award goes to…  Ranveer Singh (Gully Boy)   **BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (FEMALE) **  Nominees:  Alia Bhatt (Gully Boy)  Amrita Singh ( Badla )  Bhumi Pednekar (Sonchiriya) Sara Arjun ( Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga )   Sayani Gupta (Article 15)  And the award goes to…  Alia Bhatt (Gully Boy)   BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (MALE)  Nominees:  Aparshakti Khurana (Pati Patni A__u__r Woh) Kumud Mishra ( Nakkash )  Manoj Pahwa (Article 15) Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (Article 15) Siddhanth Chaturvedi (Gully Boy) Tony Luke Kocherry (Badla) Viineet Kumar ( Saand Ki Aankh )  And the award goes to…  Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (Article 15) BEST CAST  **Nominees: **  Article 15:  Ayushmann Khurrana, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sushil Pandey, Ronjini Chakraborty, Isha Talwar, Sumbul Touqeer, Ashish Verma, Nasser  Gully Boy:  Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Varma, Amruta Subhash, Vijay Raaz, Sheeba Chaddha, Nakul Roshan Sahdev  Notebook :  Pranutan Bahl, Zaheer Iqbal, Mir Mohammed Mehroos, Mir Sarwar, Mozim Bhat, Mir Mohammed Zayan, Soliha Maqbool, Baba Hatim, Adiba Bhat, Hafsa Ashraf Katoo, Madikha Parvez Ratta, Bareen Faheem, Ahmed Rigoo, Neelofer, Hemant Kher Sonchiriya:  Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Manoj Bajpayee, Ashutosh Rana, Ranvir Shorey, Sampa Mandal, V.K. Sharma, Khushiya  **And the award goes to… **  Article 15 Ayushmann Khurrana, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Sayani Gupta, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sushil Pandey, Ronjini Chakraborty, Isha Talwar, Sumbul Touqeer, Ashish Verma, Nasser   **BEST SONG **  **Nominees: **  Apna time aayega (from Gully Boy):  Composition: Dub Sharma, Divine  Lyrics: Divine, Ankur Tewari Singing: Ranveer Singh   Bakaiti (from _Milan Talkies_) : Composition: Rana Mazumder  Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya Singing: Sukhwinder Singh, Benny Dayal   Control (from Chhichhore ): Composition: Pritam Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya Singing: Nakash Aziz, Manish J. Tipu, Geet Sagar, Sreerama Chandra, Amitabh Bhattacharya   Dil ka telephone (from Dream Girl ): Composition: Meet Bros Lyrics: Kumaar Singing: Meet Bros Featuring Jonita Gandhi and Nakash Aziz   Jingostan beatbox (from Gully Boy): Composition: Dub Sharma Lyrics: Dub Sharma Singing: Dub Sharma   Niyam Ho (from Super 30 ): Composition: Ajay Atul Lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya Singing: Arohi Mhatre, Aditi Prabhudesai, Pragati Joshi, Maithili Panse, Sonal Naik, Rucha Soman, Deepti Rege, Deepanshi Nagar, Ann Fernandes, Dr Pallavi Shyam Sundar, Shivika Rajesh, Riddhi Sampat, Kinjal Shah, Umesh Joshi, Vijay Dhuri, Mandar Pilvalkar, Vivek Naik, Rahul Chitnis, Saurabh Wakhare, Janardan Dhatrak, Gaurav Medatwal, Chaitanya Shinde, Abhishek Jhawar, Nimish Shah, Yash Kapoor, Mayukh Pareek   And the award goes to…  Apna time aayega (from Gully Boy) Composition: Dub Sharma, Divine  Lyrics: Divine, Ankur Tewari  Singing: Ranveer Singh   BEST EDITING  **Nominees: **  Chandan Arora (Mission Mangal)  Devendra Murdeshwar (Saand Ki Aankh) Monisha R. Baldawa (Badla)   Nitin Baid (Gully Boy) Shivkumar V. Panicker (Uri_: The Surgical Strike_) And the award goes to…  Nitin Baid (Gully Boy)      BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY  Nominees:  Anuj Rakesh Dhawan (Sonchiriya)  Hari Vedantam (Milan Talkies)  Jay Oza (Gully Boy)  Jishnu Bhatacharya (Mardaani 2) Manoj Kumar Khatoi (Notebook)  Mitesh Mirchandani (Uri_: The Surgical Strike_) Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti (Saand Ki Aankh) And the award goes to…   Jay Oza (Gully Boy)     BEST SOUND DESIGN  **Nominees: **  Ayush Ahuja (Gully Boy) Bishwadeep Dipak Chatterjee (Uri_: The Surgical Strike_)  Ganesh Gangadharan, Nihar Ranjan Samal (Mardaani 2)  Kunal Sharma (Sonchiriya)  Subash Sahoo (Made In China) And the award goes to…  Ganesh Gangadharan, Nihar Ranjan Samal (Mardaani 2)      BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN  **Nominees: **  Aditya Kanwar (Uri_: The Surgical Strike_)   Dhananjay Mondal (Milan Talkies)  Mayur Sharma (Made In China) Nikhil Kovale (Article 15)  Rita Ghosh (Sonchiriya)  Sukant Panigrahy (Mardaani 2)  Suzanne Caplan Merwanji (Gully Boy)  And the award goes to…  Suzanne Caplan Merwanji (Gully Boy)    MOST INTERESTING DEBUTANT IN A LEAD OR SUPPORTING ROLE  Nominees:  Mir Mohammed Mehroos (Notebook)  Pranutan Bahl (Notebook)  Shraddha Srinath (Milan Talkies)  Siddhant Chaturvedi (Gully Boy) Vishal Jethwa (Mardaani 2) Notes: * Shraddha Srinath has acted in films outside Bollywood but I have included her here for two reasons: one, Milan Talkies is her Bollywood debut, and two, she is comparatively new in the profession anyway. * Vishal Jethwa is a known TV actor, but he made his big screen debut with Mardaani 2. And the award goes to…  Mir Mohammed Mehroos (Notebook) Related links: Best Bollywood Films 2019: _Article 15_, _Gully Boy_ and a handful that shone in an otherwise annus horribilis Director’s Cut: Tushar Hiranandani on Bhumi, Taapsee and ageism, _Saand Ki Aankh_’s Shashi Kapoor connect, misogyny and why he won’t do another _Masti_ Best Mollywood Films 2019: Kumbalangi Nights, Virus, Unda and more in perhaps the best year ever for God’s Own Cinema Mollywood Awards 2019: Parvathy or Anna? Uyiril Thodum or Jaathikkathottam? A pick of the year’s best   Best Indian Films 2019: Poetry and courage across languages, from Assamese to Hindi, Khasi, Malayalam and more   Aadukalam, Andhadhun, Sairat, Kammatipaadam, Mahanati, Village Rockstars: 100 great Indian films of the 2010s