The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

-language

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by the Filmfare magazine of

The Times Group Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited, (abbreviated as B.C.C.L. and d/b/a The Times Group), is an Indian media conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The company remains a family-owned business with Sahu Jain family owning a major ...

in 1954, the same year as the National Film Awards. They were initially referred to as the "Clare Awards" or "The Clares" after Clare Mendonca, the editor of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

''. A dual voting system was developed in 1956. Under this system, in contrast to the National Film Awards, which are decided by a panel appointed by the Indian Government, the Filmfare Awards are voted on by both the public and a committee of experts. The ceremony has been sponsored by various private organisations in the past as well as in present provisions. During several years in the 1990s, a live ceremony was broadcast to television audiences but was later discontinued due to unknown reasons. Since 2001, a recorded and edited version of the awards ceremony was televised on

SET Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

a week or two after the ceremony has been held. Since

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, the ceremony has been televised on Colors. The 65th Filmfare Awards event was held on the 16th of February 2020 at Sarusajai Stadium,

Guwahati Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...

. The Filmfare Awards have been often referred to as the

film industry's equivalent to the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

in the United States. Until the mid-1990s, Filmfare Awards were the preeminent and most-recognised awards in Bollywood until several other awards sprouted up in Mumbai. This has resulted in poor viewership since the 2000s. In addition to the flagship event, Filmfare also has variants for other Indian film industries, such as Filmfare Awards South for South Indian cinema, Filmfare Marathi Awards for

Marathi cinema Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was ...

, and Filmfare Awards East for eastern Indian cinema.

History

The Introduction

The Filmfare awards were first introduced in 1954. The Clares was the original name of the award ceremony, named after ''The Times of India'' critic Clare Mendonca. Readers of '' Filmfare'' were polled to decide the winners, and over 20,000 readers spread throughout India participated in the polls; trophies were given to winners of the popular vote. In the first awards function, held on 21 March 1954 at the Metro Theatre of

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

, only five awards were presented:

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

, Best Director,

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to the ...

, Best Actress, and Best Music Director. Gamal Abdel Nasser at the Filmfare Awards (02)

'' Do Bigha Zameen'' was the first movie to win the award for Best Film. The first winners for the other four categories were: Bimal Roy for his direction of ''Do Bigha Zameen'',

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from ...

for his performance in '' Daag'', Meena Kumari for her performance in '' Baiju Bawra'', and Naushad Ali for his music in ''Baiju Bawra''. The Filmfare Awards also introduced the

Short Film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

Category in 2017, with Vidya Balan and

Gauri Shinde Gauri Shinde (born 6 July 1974) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. Shinde made her directional debut with the highly acclaimed '' English Vinglish'' (2012), which marked the comeback of actress Sridevi. Shinde featured in the ''Financ ...

on the jury. The People's Choice Award for Best Short Film was presented to ''Khamakha''. Short films like ''Chutney'', ''Matitali Kusti'' and ''Taandav'' won awards as well. Hollywood star

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the 12th-greatest male star of Classic Hollywood ...

was invited to be the guest of honour at the first ever awards on 21 March 1954 at the Metro theatre, Mumbai but could not make it to the function since his flight from Colombo got delayed. However, Peck did attend the banquet that followed the award night at Wellington Club (Gymkhana), Mumbai.

Postponement in 1986 and 1987

The winners for the year 1985 were announced in 1986 and the event was scheduled to be held at the

Brabourne Stadium The Brabourne Stadium is a cricket ground in Mumbai in Western India, built in the British Bombay era. It was the home ground of the Mumbai men's and women's cricket teams. It can accommodate 50,000 people for sports matches. The ground is ow ...

in December 1986. Unfortunately, the ''Bombay Film Industry'' as it was known then, went on strike in 1986 because of its many contentious issues with the

Government of Maharashtra The Government of Maharashtra is the state governing authority for the state of Maharashtra, India. It is a democratically elected government with 288 MLAs elected to the Vidhan Sabha for a five-year term. Maharashtra has a Maharashtra Legisl ...

. As a result, the ceremony was pushed to the next year. The winners of 1985 were awarded on 28 January 1987. For security reasons, the Filmfare was not awarded for 1986 and 1987.

The Red Carpet

The Red Carpet is a segment that takes place before the beginning of the actual ceremony. This is when actors, actresses, producers, directors, singers, composers, and others that have contributed to Indian cinema are introduced. Hosts question the celebrities about upcoming performances and who they think deserves to take the Black Lady home.

In 2013

The 2013 Filmfare awards took place in Mumbai at the Yash Raj Studios in

Andheri Andheri ( �n̪d̪ʱeɾiː is a locality in the western part of the city of Mumbai in India. Udayanagari, the name of a hill near the Mahakali caves, inspired the name Andheri. On the former islet of Versova, also known as Vasave, there was an ...

. A special press conference was held just for its announcement and this took place at the Suburban hotel in Mumbai as well. The theme that year was a hundred years in the future. The reason for the theme to be held that year was because it was meant to be continuous from the previous year's theme, where the fraternity celebrated the completion of a hundred years in Indian cinema at the box office.

Filmfare Statuette

The

statuette A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with c ...

, depicting a woman whose arms are upraised in a dance number with her fingers touching, is commonly referred to as "The Black Lady" (or "The Lady in Black"). Originally designed by N.G. Pansare under the supervision of ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

s art director Walter Langhammer, it is generally made of bronze, its height is 46.5 cm and it weighs around 5 kg. To celebrate the 25th year of the awards, the statues were made in

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and to celebrate the 50th year the statues were made in

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

. The Filmfare trophy is manufactured by The Award Gallery since 2000. Until 2012, there had only been a few changes made to the trophy. But more recently, as of 2013, a huge change has been made to give the trophy a 3-D look. There were two reasons given for this change. First of all, the organisers believe that it was necessary to match the many advances in technology in today's world, which will advance a lot more in the coming years as well. This was also an attempt to match the theme of the 2013 set of awards at Filmfare in Mumbai: a hundred years leap into the future.

Popular awards

Current awards

: since 1954 * Best Director: since 1954 *

: since 1954 * Best Actress: since 1954 * Best Supporting Actor: since 1955 * Best Supporting Actress: since 1955 * Best Male Debut: since 1989 * Best Female Debut: since 1989 * Best Debut Director: since 2010 * Best Music Director: since 1954 * Best Lyricist: since 1959 * Best Male Playback Singer: since 1959 * Best Female Playback Singer: since 1959

Discontinued awards

* Best Performance in a Comic Role (1967–2007) * Best Performance in a Negative Role (1992–2007)

Critics' awards

Current critics’ awards

* Best Film (Critics): since 1971 * Best Actor (Critics): since 1998 * Best Actress (Critics): since 1998

Discontinued critics’ awards

* Best Documentary (1967–1997) *

Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...

(1991–1997)

Technical awards

Best Story Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

: since 1955 *

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

: since 1969 * Best Dialogue: since 1959 * Best Action: since 1993 * Best Art Direction: since 1956 * Best Background Score: since 1998 * Best Cinematography: since 1954 * Best Editing: since 1956 *

Best Choreography The MTV Video Music Award for Best Choreography is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and choreographer of the music video. From 1984 to 2007, the full name of the award was Best Choreography in a Video. The biggest winner ...

: since 1989 * Best Sound Design: since 1955 * Best Special Effects: since 2007 * Best Costume Design: since 1995

Special awards

Current special awards

* Lifetime Achievement: since 1991 * RD Burman Award for New Music Talent: since 1995 * Special Performance Award: since 1972

Discontinued special awards

* Best Scene of the Year (1998–2012) * Power Award (2003–2007)

Short film awards

* People's choice award for Best Short Film * Best Short Film in Fiction * Best Short Film in Non-Fiction * Best Actor Male Short Film * Best Actor Female Short Film

OTT awards

In 2020, Filmfare started '' Filmfare OTT Awards'' for the best in web series. * Best Series * Best Director (Series) * Best Series (Critics) * Best Director (Critics) * Best Actor in a Drama Series (Male) * Best Actor in a Drama Series (Female) * Best Actor in a Drama Series (Critics) * Best Actress in a Drama Series (Critics) * Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Male) * Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Female) * Best Actor in a Comedy Series (Critics) * Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Critics) * Best Actor in A Supporting Role in a Drama Series (Male) * Best Actor in A Supporting Role in a Drama Series (Female) * Best Actor in A Supporting Role in a Comedy Series (Male) * Best Actor in A Supporting Role in a Comedy Series (Female) * Best Comedy (Series/Specials) * Best Film (Web Original) * Best Actor in a Web Original Film (Male) * Best Actor in a Web Original Film (Female) * Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Web Original Film (Male) * Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Web Original Film (Female) * Best Original Story (Series) * Best Screenplay (Series) * Best Dialogue * Best Cinematography (Series) * Best Production Design (Series) * Best Editing (Series) * Best Costume Design (Series) * Best Background Music (Series) * Best Original Soundtrack (Series)

References

External links

Filmfare AwardsList of Filmfare Award Winners and Nominations, 1953–2005
{{The Times Group Indian film awards Bollywood film awards Events of The Times Group Film industry in Mumbai 01 Awards established in 1954 1954 establishments in Bombay State