Indian actor Adarsh Gourav has bagged the leading actor BAFTA nod for his performance in the Netflix film "The White Tiger", the British Academy announced on Tuesday.
The movie, an adaptation of Aravind Adiga's Booker Prize winning novel of the same name, marks the first lead role for Gourav, known for his appearance in "My Name is Khan", "Mom" and Netflix series "Leila".
The English language film is directed by Ramin Bahrani.
Bahrani, known for "Fahrenheit 451" and "99 Homes", has also received a BAFTA nomination in the adapted screenplay category.
Gourav's Balram is the movie's protagonist, who works as a driver for Ashok, a wealthy businessman, played by Rajkummar Rao.
From being ridiculed by his employers for his underprivileged background and forcing him to take the fall for a crime he didn't commit, the film charts Balram's journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur.
The film also stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Mahesh Manjrekar and Vijay Maurya.
Gourav will compete against award season favourites Riz Ahmed for "Sound Of Metal" and late Chadwick Boseman for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and Mads Mikkelsen for the Danish language film "Another Round".
Veteran British actor Anthony Hopkins ("The Father") and French actor Tahar Rahim ("The Mauritanian") are also nominated in the leading actor category.
The BAFTA awards ceremony will be held on April 11. PTI RDS BK
It's surreal: Adarsh Gourav
It is a "surreal" moment for Adarsh Gourav, who has landed the leading actor BAFTA nomination for his performance in "The White Tiger", but he has his eyes set on the series of auditions due this month.
"This is unbelievable. It is surreal... I was at the gym. I just found out about the nomination," said Gourav, whose previous credits include "My Name is Khan" and "Mom".
Gourav said his phone hasn't stopped buzzing since the nominations were announced.
"I saw my phone and there were a lot of messages on 'The White Tiger' WhatsApp group and Pooja Gupte, the DOP called me. This is so unexpected and overwhelming," he added.
The actor said he has had a "long day" and is currently focused on cracking important auditions.
"There are two-three very important auditions this month and I need to prepare for that and I am focusing on it," Gourav added.
Previously, actor Suraj Sharma was nominated in the Rising Star Award category at the BAFTA in 2013 for Ang Lee's "Life of Pi".
Indian origin British actor Dev Patel won the BAFTA award in the best supporting actor category for "Lion" in 2017.
Rohini Hattangadi was the first Indian actress to win the BAFTA Award for best actress in a supporting role for her performance as Kasturba Gandhi in "Gandhi" (1982).
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