Now Reading: Lokah Chapter 1 wins Best Film at IFFM 2026
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Lokah Chapter 1 wins Best Film at IFFM 2026
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra won Best Film at the 17th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, which announced its 2026 winners. Rishab Shetty won Best Director for Kantara: A Legend - Chapter 1…
The Story in Brief
Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra won Best Film at the 17th Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, which announced its 2026 winners. Rishab Shetty won Best Director for Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 and also received the Leadership in Cinema award. Dulquer Salmaan won Best Actor for Kaantha, while Kirti Kulhari was named Best Actress for Full Plate.
Rekha received the Excellence in Cinema award, and Rani Mukerji was recognised for completing 30 years in the industry. Vijay Varma and Rasika Dugal won the acting awards for Matka King and Delhi Crime 3. Freedom At Midnight, Season 2 won Best Series, while Saiyaara received the People’s Choice Award. The festival opened in Melbourne with Shetty lighting the ceremonial lamp and a screening of the restored Umrao Jaan featuring Rekha.
The Indian Opinion
Award lists often become star-counting exercises, but IFFM’s choices also include independent films, documentaries, series and equality-focused recognition. That wider spread matters more than calling one actor or film the night’s biggest winner. The useful test is whether these honours bring more viewers to titles such as Lokah Chapter 1, Kaantha and Not a Hero, rather than merely adding publicity during festival week.
Sources (3): deccanherald.com, hindustantimes.com, bollywoodhungama.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources.
