Nigar Awards are back and here are the nominations!

Nigar Awards, a highly-anticipated event this year, are set to take place in March 2017.

The award ceremony will be held after a 12-year-long gap period and honours exemplary work of Pakistan’s film industry.

Nominations for this year have been disclosed by the Nigar Awards team after a thorough but impartial screening of submissions from sister magazine Nigar Weekly’s readers. Check them out here:

Best Film: Actor in Law, Ho Mann Jahaan, Maalik, Mah-e-Mir, Janaan, and Dobara Phir Se

Best Director: Nabeel Qureshi (Actor In Law), Azfar Rizvi (Janaan), and Mehreen Jabbar (Dobara Phir Se)

Best Actor: Fahad Mustafa (Mah-e-Mir), Fahad Mustafa (Actor In Law), Mohib Mirza (Bachaana), Yasir Hussain (Lahore Se Aagey), and Sajid Hasan (Rehm) 

Best Actress: Mahira Khan (Ho Mann Jahaan), Maira Khan (Revenge Of The Worthless), Mehwish Hayat (Actor In Law), Saba Qamar (Lahore Se Aagey), and Armeena Rana Khan (Janaan)

Best Debut Director: Ashir Azeem (Maalik), Asim Raza (Ho Mann Jahaan), Anjum Shahzad (Mah-e-Mir), Jamal Shah (Revenge Of The Worthless), Hashim Nadeem (Abdullah), and Ahmed Jamal (Rehm)

Best Supporting Actor: Ehteshamudin (Maalik), Manzer Sehbai (Mah-e-Mir), Alyy Khan (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay), Hameed Shaikh (Abdullah), and Ajab Gull (Salute)

Best Supporting Actress: Saima (Salute), Sanam Saeed (Dobara Phir Se), Sonia Jahan (Ho Mann Jahaan), Mishi Khan (Janaan), and Seerat Jaffri (Rahm)

Best Actor In a Negative Role: Hasan Niyazi (Maalik), Sheraz Butt (Salute), Sunil Shankar (Rahm), Sanam Saeed (Mah-e-Mir), and Amir Qureshi (Blind Love)

Best Debut Actor: Sunil Shankar (Rahm), Feroz Khan (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay), Yasir Shah (Blind Love), Sheheryar Munawar (Ho Mann Jahaan), and Adeel Hussain (Ho Mann Jahaan)

Best Debut Actress: Sajal Ali (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay), Sanam Saeed (Bachaana), Nimra (Blind Love), and Rabia Butt (Hijrat)

Best Screenplay: Yasir Hussain (Lahore Se Aagey), Ashar Azeem (Maalik), Muhammad Pervez Kalim (Blind Love), Fizza Ali Meerza (Actor In Law), and Abdul Khaliq Khan (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay)

Best Story: Sarmad Sehbai (Mah-e-Mir), Ashir Azeem (Maalik), Fizza Ali Meerza (Actor In Law), Asim Raza (Ho Mann Jahaan), and Khaliq Khan (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay)

Best Dialogue: Yasir Hussain - Lahore Se Aagey, Ashir Azeem - Maalik, Fizza Ali Meerza - Actor In Law, Sarmad Sehbai - Mah-e-Mir, and Mahmood Jamal - Rahm

Best Music: Shani Arshad (Actor In Law), Zeb Bangash, Faakhir, and Ehtesham Malik (Ho Mann Jahaan), Soch (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay), Haniya Aslam and Justin Gray (Dobara Phir Se), and Shiraz Uppal (Lahore Se Aagey)

Best Lyricist: Oh Khudaya (Actor In Law), Lar Gayan (Dobara Phir Se), Baifikriyan (Lahore Se Aagey), Tootiya Taraa (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay), and Nazaria (Maalik)

Best Singer Male: Atif Aslam - 'Dil Dancer Hogaya' (Actor In Law), Asrar - 'Shakarwandan' (Ho Mann Jahaan), Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - 'Oh Khudaya' (Actor In Law), and Soch band - 'Tootiya Taraa' (Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay)

Best Singer Female: Aima Baig - 'Bai Fikriyan' (Lahore Se Aagey), Mai Dhai - 'Sarak Sarak' (Ho Mann Jahaan), Masuma Anwar - 'Naina Roye' (Maalik), Zeb Bangash - 'Dil Pagla' (Ho Mann Jahaan), Natasha Baig - 'Jhoom Lay' (Janaan)

Best Choreographer: Nigah Hussain (Ho Mann Jahaan), Wahab Shah and Hasan Rizvi (Lahore Se Aagey), James Koroni (Dobara Phir Sey), and Faizan Ehbab (Janaan), and Papur Samrath (Mah-e-Mir)

Best Cinematography: Ali Bukhari (Blind Love), Adil Askari (Salute), Rana Kamran (Actor In Law), Salman Razzaq Khan (Ho Mann Jahaan), and Asrad Khan (Lahore Se Aagey)

Established a decade after independence by editor Ilyas Rashidi, the Nigar Awards continued till 2002, when the management had to unfortunately indefinitely suspend the event as the film industry almost died down.

It is noteworthy that the award design on 47th Nigar Awards will revert to its original lady silhouette statue, which had been banned in the 80s.