Eligibility Criteria

General Rules for eligibility

All motion pictures must meet the following criteria for nomination into the IIFA Awards (unless otherwise specified for any particular Award category):

1. The film must be of feature length (this is defined as minimum 40 minutes duration).
2. The film should have been publicly exhibited in theatres by means of 35 mm or 75 mm film.
3. The film should have been exhibited for a minimum of seven consecutive days.
4. As a theatrical release, the film was released with paid admission in a commercial motion picture theatre in any city in India and in an international territory (referring to any territory outside the Indian sub-continent).
5. The application form must be duly completed and signed by the producer of the nominated film. The producer will be undertaking on behalf of the entire film production unit, which Awards are being applied for and will ensure that all the required paperwork and details are submitted as required.
6. Applicants in the category Best International Film (English Language Original) will be governed by all rules and regulations applicable to the Popular Awards category. The film must be an English-language original live-action feature film and must have had an official release in India during the eligibility period specified in Section B. The film must have a minimum runtime of 60 minutes to qualify as a feature-length motion picture.

   Fully animated films, animated features, or hybrid productions combining animation and live-action elements are not eligible for this category.

7. By submitting this nomination form, the Producer acknowledges and confirms that it is the sole owner of all intellectual property rights in and to the Film/Series, to the extent necessary for granting IIFA a license to use such material for the on-ground event and for streaming the Awards Show.

   The Producer further agrees that IIFA shall be the exclusive owner of all rights, including without limitation all intellectual property rights and copyright, in any audio and/or visual recording captured in relation to the IIFA Awards. This includes images, sound bites, interviews, performances, and any footage of the producer, director, cast, nominees, and winners recorded or featured at any event or activity connected to the 2026 IIFA Weekend & Awards.

   Additionally, the Producer grants IIFA the right to use content and footage from the submitted Film/Series or nominated/winning content for a maximum cumulative duration of up to 300 seconds, taken from any part of the original work, solely for incorporation into the Awards Show, related promotions, announcements, and any associated editorial or celebratory content.

   IIFA shall have the unrestricted right to use all their original materials in all media or platforms, including digital, across the universe and in perpetuity.

8. To complete the nomination IIFA will require a copy of the official screen credits, which must be acknowledged and signed by the producer. They should include the following.
   1. Full, complete and authentic credits.
   2. The name of the city, theatre in India where the film has played if applicable (only one needs to be given).
   3. The name of the city, theatre and country of the international territory where the film has played (only one needs to be given).
   4. The date of the release of the film in India and/or the international territory if applicable.
9. It is a mandatory responsibility of the producer to inform all cast and crew of film for the nominations being applied for at the IIFA Awards.
10. It is the responsibility of the producer to ensure that nominees are present for any award categories applied for. In the case of absence of any nominee IIFA reserves the right to decide an alternative winner for that category.
11. Eligibility for all award applications will be determined from the supplied film credits as they appear on-screen and are certified to IIFA by the production company, but IIFA reserves the final rights for inclusion of any filed nomination in any category. IIFA is not bound by any contractual understanding or agreement relating to the sharing or giving of credit and reserves the final right to determine credibility for the purpose of award consideration.
12. In the event of any dispute concerning credits, IIFA reserves the right to declare any submission or achievement ineligible or reject all claims to credits, list credits as being in controversy and withhold any award presentation until the dispute is resolved.
13. There shall be no alteration in the print version shown in registered territories upon which eligibility is based. Any such alteration will be subject to disqualification as an ineligible entry.
14. The spoken language of the film can be Hindi only. Please note motion pictures dubbed in Hindi are not eligible.

The Award Year & Deadlines

1. The nominated film must have been released between 1st January 2025 and 31st December 2025.
2. All official screen credit forms must be submitted to IIFA at the time of application.
3. All submissions are final and cannot be withdrawn post the closing date of nominations as mentioned by the IIFA management.

Submission

1. Any software provided or acquired by the producers regarding the nominated film and/or award categories shall become the property of IIFA for the use of such footage as deemed suitable to fulfil the objectives of IIFA Weekend and Awards and related promotion and/or marketing.
2. This submission for nominations for IIFA Awards allows IIFA the right to choose clips and/or visual images from the film at their sole discretion.
3. By submitting a nomination for the IIFA Awards, the entrant grants IIFA the rights to use clips, visual images, and songs from the content at IIFA's sole discretion. This includes the right to utilize the material for telecast, streaming, social media, and during on-ground events, without any further permissions required.

Balloting and Nominations

1. Final decisions on all achievements shall be carried out as detailed below or at the discretion of IIFA and the IIFA Advisory Board:
   • Application forms to be received by the Academy.
   • Select members of the film industry will be invited by the IIFA Academy for IIFA voting process online.
   • List of eligible nominations will be published by IIFA.
   • List of nominees for each award will be released on iifa.com and through global media release.
   • Public voting shall be conducted via the internet for IIFA Awards Popular Categories post nominations being announced.
2. For any nomination submissions for remake/remix songs in the 'Best Lyrics' category please note that the original lyric writer must also be mentioned and credited.
3. In the event a nominated achievement is declared ineligible by the Academy, it will not be replaced and the category will remain with one less nominee.
4. If an award category winner has been achieved by two or more persons, each person shall receive an award trophy.
5. The winners of the Technical Awards and/or certain Popular Award categories will be awarded based on the industry voting only as audited by the IIFA appointed auditors. These winners will be declared ahead of the event and only the winner will be travelling to the IIFA Awards destination.
6. Technical Award winners will be contacted ahead of the announcement and if they are unable to attend then the second person in the category will automatically be announced as the winner.
7. Only the technical award winner will be hosted for travel, accommodation and event invitation by IIFA for any technical award category. If there is more than one person in a team submission, then a maximum of two people will be permitted from that. Any additional members of a team or family/accompanying guests will be the responsibility of the nominee and seating will be provided subject to availability. The seating may not be in the same area as the nominee.
8. It is the responsibility of the producer/studio to ensure the nominees in the categories submitted are available to attend the IIFA Awards ceremony. If a nominee is unable to attend the ceremony, then the nomination will be given to the next eligible person/s in that category.
9. For popular award nominees only, the nominee will be hosted for travel, accommodation and event invitation by IIFA for any category. If there is more than one person in a team submission, then a maximum of two people will be permitted from that. Any additional members of a team or family/accompanying guests will be the responsibility of the nominee and seating will be provided subject to availability. The seating may not be in the same area as the nominee.
10. A select set of Popular Awards will have nominations announced and then these categories will be subject to online public voting via iifa.com and/or any other platforms as advertised and authorized by IIFA. The winners of these categories will be derived using a weighting average between industry and public voting. All to be audited by the independent auditors.
11. The form must be duly completed and signed by the producer/authorized signatory for the Production company/studio.