Director Sukumar's explosive blockbuster 'Pushpa: The Rise', featuring actors Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead, led the list of nominations in the Telugu section of the 10th Edition of the South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) that is scheduled to be held in Bengaluru on September 10-11.

While 'Pushpa' got nominated in a whopping 12 categories, Boyapati Srinu's 'Akhanda', featuring Balakrishna in the lead, has got nominated in 10. Anudeep KV's 'Jathi Ratnalu' and Buchi Babu Sana's 'Uppena' were close behind with eight nominations each.

Pushpa -The Rise- with 12 nominations leads pack in Telugu.
Pushpa -The Rise- with 12 nominations leads pack in Telugu.IANS

In the Tamil section, director Mari Selvaraj's critically acclaimed blockbuster 'Karnan', featuring Dhanush in the lead, led the pack with 10 nominations.

Director Nelson Dilipkumar's action-comedy entertainer 'Doctor', featuring Sivakarthikeyan in the lead, got nine nominations while Lokesh Kanakaraj's 'Master' and director AL Vijay's 'Thalaivi', the biopic of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa, got seven nominations each.

In the Malayalam segment, Basil Joseph's superhero film, 'Minnal Murali' starring Tovino Thomas, got the maximum nominations.

Chiranjeevi at SIIMA Awards 2021
Chiranjeevi on stage at SIIMA 2021.PR Handout

It has been nominated in 10 categories while Dulquer Salmaan-starrer 'Kurup' has been nominated in eight categories. Fahadh Faasil's 'Malik' and 'Joji' have six nominations each.

'Roberrt' with 10 nominations led the pack in Kannada. 'Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana' with eight nominations and actor Puneeth Rajkumar's 'Yuvarathnaa' with seven nominations are leading the SIIMA Nominations for 2021 in Kannada.

SIIMA gives awards to the South Indian artists for their work in the cine field. Founded by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli in 2012, it honours filmmakers from the South Indian film industries of Malayalam cinema, Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, and Kannada cinema.

The Awards are given out in two parts on two alternative days. The Generation Next Awards honour the most potential upcoming South Indian film composers on the first day, while the main SIIMA Awards are held on the second.

The list of nominees are chosen by a jury of top artists and professionals and voted on by the general public.