60th Britannia Filmfare Awards: Best Director nominations

It's that time of the year again when celebrities will grace the red carpet for the 60th Britannia Filmfare Awards. While some will be vying for the Black Lady, others will come to support their peers, predecessors and juniors. As one of the most talked about events in the year, the Filmfare Awards are second to none. This year too, directors will compete with each other to take the award home. With the announcement of the nominations, here's taking a look at the directors who have been selected for the prestigious awards.

Vikas Bahl for Queen: Queen was not only refreshing but also one of the best films to release in 2014. Kangana Ranaut stole the show with her performance and director Vikas Bahl was lauded for his direction. Revolving around Rani (Kangana Ranaut), the film explores her journey to discover her true identity and experience a new found independence through her travels on her honeymoon, sans her husband who ditched her before the two are set to tie the knot.

Rajkumar Hirani for PK: This one comes as no surprise. Aamir Khan and Raju Hirani's combination first created waves at the box-office with the 2009 film, 3 Idiots. It swept all the major awards that year. The duo repeated history with their 2014 offering, PK. The film made headlines for various reasons and was also mired in controversy for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of people. But inspite of this, the film has become the highest-grosser in Bollywood. Rajkumar Hirani has once again weaved magic at the box-office and it remains to be seen if he will walk away with the Black Lady.

Anurag Kashyap for Ugly: What comes as a pleasant surprise is Anurag Kashyap's nomination under the Best Director category for the film, Ugly. This drama-thriller was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and was lauded for its content. Ugly has also been appreciated by the Hindi film fraternity for its stark portrayal of ugly relationships and human greed. TV actors, Rahul Bhat and Abir Goswami (last film appearance before his demise in 2013) stole the show along with Ronit Roy and Tejaswini Kolhapure. Anurag also released his movie one week after PK's release, which was a challenge for the director but he remained undeterred. Though the film did not fare well at the box-office, the industry took notice of the fact and Anurag has thus been nominated.

Vishal Bhardwaj for Haider: Known for his Shakespearean adaptations, Vishal Bharadwaj's Haider is loosely based on the playwright's great work, Hamlet. Set against the backdrop of Kashmir, director Bhardwaj has infused multiple themes very cleverly in the film, giving it an Indian milieu. From the plight of the Kashmiris, to half-widows and disappeared people, Haider won the hearts of critics and is considered as one of Shahid's best performance till date.

Abhishek Varman for 2 States: Abhishek made his Bollywood debut with this romantic comedy, based on Chetan Bhagat's best-selling novel by the same name. Starring Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, the film did well at the box-office and both the actors were appreciated for their performances. A love story of two people from culturally different backgrounds, 2 States explores their relationship with each other and their families. In the end, all's well that ends wells as both the warring families agree to Krish (Arjun Kapoor) and Ananya Swaminathan's (Alia Bhatt) wedding. Abhishek's film has beaten others to be nominated. Giving it stiff competition will be other noteworthy films.