Indian Film Festival of New York 2025: ‘Angammal’ Wins Best Film, Nawazuddin & Sharmila Tagore Honoured

At the 2025 Indian Film Festival of New York, Angammal, directed by Vipin Radhakrishnan, emerged as the Best Film. Set in a Tamil Nadu village, the story explores generational conflict through a man’s discomfort with his mother’s traditional, blouseless attire—an issue that escalates just before a visit from his in-laws.

Aranya Sahay’s Humans in the Loop was named Best Debut Film. The film follows Nehma, a young woman who returns to her village in Jharkhand after a divorce and finds unexpected purpose working as a data labeller in an AI training center.

The New York Women in Film & Television Excellence in Directing Awards were shared by acclaimed directors Shonali Bose for A Fly on the Wall and Rima Das for Village Rockstars 2. Subhadra Mahaja won Best Screenplay for Second Chance.

Veteran actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui clinched Best Actor for his layered performance as Adnan Baig in I’m Not An Actor, while Sharmila Tagore was honoured with Best Actress for portraying Mrs. Sen in The Ancient.

The Fly on the Wall, a poignant documentary chronicling Chika Kapadia’s final months as he seeks physician-assisted suicide in Switzerland, directed by Shonali Bose and Nilesh Maniyar, took home the Best Feature Documentary award.

In the short film categories, An Arrested Moment directed by Dev Benega won Best Short Documentary, and Thursday Special, helmed by Varun Tandon, was awarded Best Short Narrative.

Adding a star-studded moment to the festival, legendary actor Robert De Niro attended the premiere of Tanvi The Great, directed by Anupam Kher, alongside his partner Tiffany Chen—drawing widespread attention and global media coverage.