And the Filmfare 2024 Award Goes to...

Indian glitz and glamour is never better displayed than at Hindi cinema’s Filmfare Awards ceremony. Bollywood stars turned out in force for the event’s 69th edition, held on Sunday, January 28th at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. (The venue was chosen to throw Bollywood’s weight behind the state’s renewed tourism initiative). Since the event predictably doubles as a showcase of couture and fashion, the attending stars showed up in captivating garb. 

Outfits & Rituals

Among the distinctively-attired highlights were Alia Bhatt in a gorgeous white off-shoulder dress, Kareena Kapoor Khan in a shimmering red silk saree, Ranbir Kapoor in a spiffy double-breasted tuxedo, Sara Ali Khan in an oriental dress and Janhvi Kapoor in a black sheer gown... just to name a few. Not to be outdone was the event’s chief host Karan Johar, donning a black suit with golden embossing. 

As expected, the venerated filmmaker fulfilled the role of emcee with his characteristic panache and was ably assisted by Ayushmann Khurrana and Manish Paul. No Bollywood event is complete without Song & Dance and so several actors from Janhvi Kapoor to Varun Dhawan enlivened the stage with dazzling performances. 

Ranbir & Alia Award-Winning Jodi

But nothing could overshadow the main business of the evening – the awards. Grabbing the Best Actress award for a record-breaking 6th time was Alia Bhatt - for her scintillating performance in Rocky aur Rani ki Prem Kahaani. Alia was rightly acknowledged for her role of a love-struck Bengali journalist attempting to win favour with her Punjabi in-laws-to-be. But Alia's real life hubby – Ranbir Kapoor – was not to be upstaged by his better-half. He ensnared his 4th Best Actor statuette for a sensational turn as an embattled father in the action-drama Animal. To break any perceived conjugal tension, the couple indulged in a public jig and kiss.

Recap of Other Awards

The Sandeep Reddy Vanga-directed Animal went on to garner the most awards for any contender this year - with a glistening tally of six. These included Best Playback Singer (Bhupinder Babbal) and Best Background Score (Harshwardhan Rameshwar). Meanwhile, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s critical favourite - 12th Fail - came away with five awards. This impressive biopic of a police officer who hopes to resume his truncated academic journey, won for Best Screenplay (Chopra), Best Editing (Chopra and Jaskunwar Singh Kohli) and Best Critics Actor (Vikrant Massey). The movie also grabbed Best Film and Best Director, indicating that true stories were favoured a little more than original fiction this year.

Veteran crowd-puller Rani Mukerji was rewarded in the Best Actress Critics category for portraying a mother embroiled in a child custody battle - in Mrs. Chatterjee vs. Norway. Tying with Rani for the award was Shefali Shah, for playing a dementia patient returning to her hometown – in Three of Us. Meanwhile, Vicky Kaushal was named Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a conflicted migrant in Dunki and the versatile Shabana Azmi was declared Best Supporting Actress for enacting a concerned parent in Rocky aur Rani kii Prem Kahaani. 

Three of Us bagged a richly deserved award for Cinematography (Avinash Arun Dhaware), while Best Production Design went to Sam Bahadur (Subrata Chakraborty & Amit Ray) - a biopic of the legendary Indian army chief Sam Manekshaw. Other movies to get some acknowledgement this year were the Shah Rukh Khan thriller Jawan; the biopic action flick Faraaz; the bumpy road movie Dhak Dhak; the Manoj Baypayee hair-raiser Joram; the rom-com Zara Hakte, Zara Bachte; and the heist film Farrey.

Indeed, it was a year where the Filmfare Awards recognised movies across genres and without particular adherence to box office results. Yes, this is a promising sign that India’s Hindi film industry continues to open up and diversify.