Riteish Deshmukh for 'Ek Villain', Nawazuddin Siddiqui ('Kick') and Kay Kay Menon ('Haider') are this year's contenders for Negative Role category.
Apart from the best director trophy, the multifaceted Vishal Bhardwaj will also be vying for the Music Direction category for his compositions in 'Haider'.
He will face tough competition from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for '2 States'; Mithoon ('Banjara', 'Zaroorat' and 'Hamdard'), Ankit Tiwari ('Galliyan'), Adnan Dhool (Soch) ('Awari'), Rabbi Ahmed ('Awari') for 'Ek Villain'; and Mithoon, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Pritam and Arko Pravo Mukherjee for 'Yaariyan'.
Among competitors in the category for Best Story are 'Queen', '2 States', Abhijat Joshi and Rajkumar Hirani for 'PK'.
For the Lyrics category, Manoj Muntashir for 'Galliyan' ('Ek Villain'), Rashmi Singh for 'Muskurane' ('Citylights') and Amitabh Bhattacharya for 'Mast magan' ('2 States') have been nominated.
In the Playback Singer Male category, Ankit Tiwari for 'Galliyan' ('Ek Villain'), Arijit Singh for 'Muskurane' ('Citylights'), Mika Singh for 'Jumme ki raat' ('Kick'), and Sukhwinder Singh 'Bismil' ('Haider') will be competing with each other.
In the female category of the award, the 'Baby doll' singer Kanika Kapoor (for the film 'Ragini MMS 2') has been nominated alongside Sultana and Jyoti Nooran for 'Patakha guddi' ('Highway') and Shreya Ghoshal for 'Samjhawan' ('Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania').
IIFA will take place at Stadium Putra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from June 5 to 7 this year, rolling out a red carpet for a string of Bollywood celebrities.
