India movie awards are often accused of selling its award in return of money or any other form. The Oscars are considered as the paramount of awards in not only Hollywood film industry but also around the world. In terms of India, Filmfare are regarded as the most prestigious one, however, Filmfare and controversies are made for each other.
Like the previous times, Filmfare is again in controversy for giving Gully Boy 13 Filmfare awards. The flak is so severe that people lost their faith in the credibility of Filmfare.
65th Filmfare Awards
Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt's 2019 film Gully Boy took the Filmfare by storm as the movie clinched a total of 13 awards. A major section of people started hashtag trend on social media (#BoycottFilmfare). Even on Wikipedia's page, Filmfare was tagged as paid by a user.
People were infuriated as Bollywood newbie Ananya Pandey won best debut actress, Apna Time Aayega won best lyrics in spite of Kesari's Teri mitti Mein, and Kabir Singh which was the trendsetter movie of 2019 did not secure any award.
However, this is not new for Filmfare as there are many previous examples present that raises eyebrows over Filmfare's credibility.
Previous Filmfare Awards and Controversies:
The most known Filmfare controversy is of Amir Khan. Mr Perfectionist In 1996, Aamir & Shahrukh both were nominated for the same category, i.e, best actor. And SRK bagged the award for his performance in DDLJ. But Aamir believed that he deserved that award & stopped attending Award shows from thereon.
Rani Mukerji- Controversy erupted when she won Best Supporting Actress for Kuch Kuch Hota Hai in front of Shephali Shah for Satya and some years later best actress for Hum Tum in front of Preity Zinta for Veer Zaara and Urmila for Ek Haseena Thi. People accused Rani got the award through Yash Raj and Karan Johar influence.
Kajol- The actress won the best actress for Kabhi Khusi kabhi Gham infront of Tabu for Chandini Bar. Tabu later went on to win National Award for her performance.
Suraj Pancholi won best debut actor award in front of outstanding performance given by Vicky Kaushal in Masaan.
Aayushman Khurana for Paani da rang in front of Sonu Nigam Abhi mujh main Kahin.
Aamir Khan for Dangal in front of Randeep Hooda for Sarabjit, Aamir was fantastic but Randeep Hooda was terrific
In the 60th Filmfare Awards, in the Best Singer Female category, Kanika Kapoor won the award for Baby Doll from Ragini MMS 2, beating Nooran Sisters, who sang wonderfully Patakha Guddi ( Highway ) and Shreya Ghoshal mesmerising number Manwa Laage from Happy New Year.
How Filmfare Awards Are Given?
As per Filmfare, it follows an exhaustive process to shortlist achievements of actors, filmmakers and technicians. All films that release in a calendar year i.e. between January 1 and December 31 qualify for the public voting process. Filmfare releases a form for the common public, across print and online platforms, where movie buffs cast their vote for their favourite films, songs and artists in different categories.
The voting data is then compiled, to arrive at the final set of nominees for the popular categories such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Male), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Female) etc.
After zeroing in on popular nominations, a voting form is sent to jury members of the Popular category. This form has potential nominations. It also initiates the process, where the jury members rank nominees in all 10 popular categories
However, there are many instances when Bollywood actors have themselves came in front and accused awards ceremonies of Bollywood as fake and bogus. If it is even a single per cent true, an independent body must be formed who will be a watchdog.