‘The Artist’ leads BAFTA nominations with 12 nods

‘The Artist’,a romantic comedy about the rise and the fall of a silent movie star,is tipped to give tough competition to some of the Hollywood’s biggest releases this year. The film won three prizes at the recently concluded Golden Globes where it was nominated in six categories.

Cold War-era spy drama ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ came second by garnering 11 nominations at the top British awards gala. The film will be fighting it out with ‘ The Artist’ in the best film,director and actor category.

‘Hugo’,Martin Scorsese tribute to the magic of movies,managed nine nominations followed by ‘My Week With Marilyn’ which had six. ‘The Help’ and ‘War Horse’ managed five nominations each.

Scorsese,who is also nominated for his documentary on George Harrison,will be honoured with a BAFTA Fellowship award for his contribution to cinema.

Veteran actor Meryl Streep is a strong contender to win the best actress trophy for her controversial portrayal of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’.

Berenice Bejo from ‘The Artist’,Michelle Williams ‘My Week with Marilyn’,Tilda Swinton ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’ and Viola Davis ‘The Help’ are other nominees in this category.

George Clooney and Brad Pitt lead the best actor category with their performance in ‘The Descendants’ and ‘Moneyball’. The other nominees in this category are Gary Oldman ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’,Jean Dujardin ‘The Artist’ and Michael Fassbender ‘Shame’.

In the best picture category ‘The Artist’ is up against ‘The Descendants’,’Drive’,’The Help’ and ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’.

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2’,managed nominations in make up and hair,production design,sound and special visual effects categories.

The BAFTA awards will be presented on February 12 at London’s Royal Opera House.