50+ Interesting and less-known facts related to Filmfare awards (Bollywood)

Filmfare awards – introduced in the year 1954, initially gave away honours for artistic excellence in Bollywood cinema. Interestingly the first National Award for the Best Actor was awarded in 1967. Initially only awards were announced, and no nominees, and only 5 categories including best film, director, actor, actress and music. Please visit my Filmfare page here:

Later movies made in a few more regional languages were also recognized such as South Indian Cinema, Bengali, Marathi cinema etc. Though many other organizations also give awards to Bollywood artists, Filmfare awards – the oldest among all is widely regarded as the most prestigious and glamorous honours, recognizing popular cinema. Through this column, I would love to share some of the interesting facts related to Filmfare awards which has completed 65 years in 2019. Please note – Facts are based on Filmfare awards given till 2019. Hope you will love it. And here we go.

Academy winner Gulzar is the recipient of maximum Filmfare awards in Bollywood

–> Gulzar is the recipient of 21 Filmfare awards from 43 nominations. He won maximum Filmfare Awards for Best Lyricist (12 from 30 nominations) which itself is a record. 4 Filmfare Awards for Best Dialogue, One award each in the categories – Critics Award for Best Movie (Aandhi), Best Documentary, Best Story (Maachis), best director (Mausam) and Life Time Achievement award – total concludes to 20 till 2019. Read in detail.

–> A. R. Rahman is the artist to win maximum Filmfare awards with Bollywood and South cinema combined; 15 and 16 awards for Bollywood and South respectively, thus making to a total of 31 awards which made him eligible for this honour.

–> There are more than 45 artists who received this honour 5 times or more. Get the full list here.

–> After Gulzar, only Amitabh Bachchan and A. R. Rahman have received 15 or more Filmfare awards in Bollywood.

Sridevi received both her Filmfare trophies for double roles

–> Lady super star Sridevi received only two trophies for best actress category during her lifetime, and both are for playing dual roles – Chaalbaaz and Lamhe. Strange but true! Though she could have win it for Mr. India (1987), Filmfare awards were not conducted for a couple of years.

–> Bollywood superstars like Rajesh Khanna, Hrithik Roshan, Hema Malini and Sridevi claimed their first Filmfare awards for best actor/actress for a double role. In fact, these two actresses got Filmfare awards for double roles only.

–> Till now 8 awards have been given to twin roles (irrespective of gender) in best actor category, while Devan Varma got it for Angoor in Best supporting actor category.

–> Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala were the first actors to be nominated at Filmfare awards for best actor in the respective categories, for playing multiple roles. Dilip Kumar played double role and Vyjayanthimala played triple role in Bollywood classic, Madhumati in 1958, for which they were nominated.  

–> Kangana Ranaut is the only actress to receive Filmfare critics’ choice award for a dual role, and she got it for ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns‘. She won National award for best actress for the same.

–> Nutan for Milan (1967) is the first actress to win Filmfare award for best actress for playing a dual role. Waheeda Rehman won it the following year for 1968 movie, Neel Kamal. This award was first won by a male actor in 1971. While Rajesh Khanna received his first nomination for his dual role in Aradhana (1969 film) alongside Ittefaq, he won it for his double role in 1970 movie, Sachaa Jhutha, thus becoming the first male actor to receive this honour. The second actor to win this award was Amitabh Bachchan for 1978 movie, Don.

–> Till now Hrithik Roshan is the only actor/actress to receive Filmfare award for best actor for his debut film in a dual role. He received it for year 2000 blockbuster – Kaho Na Pyar Hai.

Sushma Shreshta and Master Vignesh are the youngest nominees in Filmfare playback singing categories, both aged 11

–> Poornima (Sushma Shreshta) holds the rare record at Filmfare awards for being nominated as a child artist twice in singing category, and is the youngest nominee too (shares the record with Master Vignesh from male category) at the age of 11. Though she was fully active in the 1990s she has never been nominated as an adult singer and has never won a Filmfare award.

–> Manna Dey for Ae Bhai Jara Dekh Ke Chalo, Mohammed Rafi for Kya Hua Tera Wada, Udit Narayan for Mitwa and Sonu Nigam for Kal Ho Naa Ho received both National awards and Filmfare awards in best playback singer category. No female voice owns this record (may be because Mangeshkar sisters stopped accepting Filmfare awards in the 1970s).

–> Though O. P. Nayyar remained a celebrated music composer of 1960s giving numerous hit songs to Rafi and Asha, he was never nominated at Filmfare nominations in the decade. He has been nominated thrice in the late 1950s, and won it once for ‘Naya Daur‘ only, throughout his career.

–> Aradhana and Woh Kaun Thi are among the top classic albums of 1960s, which managed to receive nomination at Filmfare awards in best music category, but never received the honours. Interestingly Laxmikant-Pyarelal received the award both these times, surprising everyone – Dosti (1964) and Jeene Ke Raah (1969).

–> The song – Roop Tera Mastana gave the first ever nomination and Filmfare award to Kishore Kumar in best playback singer – male category who later went on to get 7 more awards. His record of 8 awards at Filmfare in this category is still unbroken. Read more facts about the movie Aradhana and its music here.

–> Kumar Sanu (alongside Arijit Singh) holds the record of winning Filmfare awards for best playback singer consecutively for 5 times from 1991-1995. He broke the record of Kishore Kumar, who won it 4 times in a row. Interestingly, despite remaining the top male voice of the decade Sanu never won a Filmfare award later, though its 25 years now.

–> In 2020, Arijit Singh equalled Kumar Sanu’s record of winning Filmfare awards for best playback singer consecutively for 5 times. He won it first time for “Tum Hi Ho” from Aashique 2  in 2014, and except a gap of one year, he went on to win the award for next 5 times since 2016.

–> After 1994 (Kumar Sanu held the supremacy of awards for long 5 years), Udit Narayan won three of the five Filmfare awards of the decade in the best male playback singer category. 

–> Lata Mangeshkar openly expressed her displeasure when she was invited to perform at Filmfare nite in 1958, when playback singers were not honoured. Best playback singer category was introduced the following year and Lata became the first winner for “Aaja Re Pardesi” song. Till 1967 there was no separate category for male and female singers.

–> A. R. Rahman shares the record with the legendary SJ with highest number of awards in best music category, with a total of 9 each. Kishore Kumar with 8 awards followed by Rafi with 6 awards, and Asha Bhosle and Alka Yagnik with 7 each holds maximum trophies in best playback singing category. 

–> Himesh Reshammiya was the first music composer to receive Filmfare award for best playback singer. He received the honour for the title track he composed for Aashiq Banaya Aapne in 2005. Later Ankit Tiwari won the honour for his song – Galliyan from his 2014 sound track of Ek Villain.

Dev Anand & Waheeda Rehman is the first lead pair to receive best actor awards for the same film

–> Dev Anand & Waheeda Rehman is the first lead pair to receive best actor/actress trophy for the same film. They received the honour in 1967 for Guide. Shah Rukh – Kajol, Shah Rukh Khan – Madhuri Dixit, Shah Rukh Khan – Aishwarya Rai, Rishi Kapoor – Dimple Kapadia, Kamal Hassan – Dimple Kapadia, Aamir Khan – Karishma Kapoor, Anil Kapoor – Madhuri Dixit, Amitabh Bachchan – Vidya Balan, Amitabh Bachchan – Rani Mukerji and Naseeruddin Shah – Smita Patel are other pairs to receive this honour for a single film. Read in detail here.

–> Till now 13 Bollywood films have been given both Filmfare best actor and actress awards in the same year. (as of 2019)

–> Shah Rukh – Kajol Jodi leads the above list with a total of 3 wins – DDLJ, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and My Name is Khan – the only onscreen pair to win Filmfare awards for a single movie more than once. Rishi Kapoor & Dimple Kapadia also joins the list for their debut movie – Bobby (1975); the only screen Jodi to win this award for their debut film and the youngest winners too. They were the youngest nominees in the respective categories at the time of movie release.

–> Top actresses of 1960s – Sharmila Tagore and Asha Parekh earned their single Filmfare award in best actress category for the woman centric films directed by Shakti Samanta – Aradhana and Kati Patang respectively. Interestingly Rajesh Khanna who played the male lead in both these female oriented films was benefited most.

–> Among all leading male and female actors, Dilip Kumar is the only actor to win hat-trick at Filmfare awards in best actor/actresses category, and is also the actor with highest number of wins. With a total of 8 wins, he shares the record with Shah Rukh Khan, highest across both male and female categories. He created the hat-trick with the films – Azad, Devdas and Naya Daur in the late 1950s.

–> Darsheel Safary became the youngest nominee to be nominated at Filmfare awards in best actor category, when he was nominated for Tare Zameen Par at the age of 11. He broke decades old record of Rishi Kapoor for Bobby. Interestingly both were their debut movies in a lead role (Rishi has earlier done supporting roles).

–> Dimple Kapadia, Rishi Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan, Lakshmi and Anupam Kher – These five actors have won Filmfare best actor/actress award for their debut role in Bollywood. Read in detail here. But there are multiple nominees without winning – Kamal Hassan, Sunny Deol, Saira Banu, Jaya Bhaduri, Anushka Sharma, Shraddha Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Bhagya Sree etc are a few names to mention.

–> A few actors who won Filmfare awards (critics’ choice) won National award for best actor/actress too. Such big names include – Dimple Kapadia for Rudali, Ajay Devgan for The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Amitabh Bachchan for Black and Piku, Irrfan Khan for Paan Tomar Singh and Rajkumar Rao for Shahid.

–> Two-times National award winning actors – Ajay Devgan and Tabu have never won Filmfare awards in best actor category. Similarly extremely talented and successful actors like Guru Dutt, Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar, Manisha Koirala, Raveena Tandon, Konkana Sen Sharma, Mala Sinha, Saira Banu, Sadhana, Urmila, Priya Rajvansh, Jayaprada, Rehana Sultan, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Reena Roy, Meenakshi Sheshadri, Tanuja, Akshay Kumar, Jeetendra, Mithun Chakroborty, Vinod Khanna, Manoj Bajpai etc have never won this honour.

–> Shashi Kapoor though remained one of the top actors for more than two decades, he has never been nominated in Filmfare best actor category, strange but true. But he is the only actor from Kapoor family to win National Film awards for best actor.

–> Actor with most nominations in best actor category without ever winning is Salman Khan, with a record 10 times.

–> Tabu has won 6 Filmfare awards till now, but never in best actress category. She has also received 6 nominations in best actress category without any win, which is a record. Saif Ali Khan is a recipient of 6 Filmfare awards, but never in best actor category. Similarly Ajay Devgan is a recipient of three trophies.

–> A few actors have rejected Filmfare trophies for giving the honour in supporting actor category – Prithviraj Kapoor for Mughal-E-Azam, Vyjayanthimala for Devdas and Reena Roy for Apnapan as they felt that they deserved best actor trophy.

–> Meena Kumari for Baiju Bawra, Bharat Bhushan for Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Jaya Bachchan for Abhimaan, Sanjeev Kumar for Aandhi, Shabana Azmi for Arth, Sanjay Dutt for Vaastav: The Reality, Big B and Rani Mukerji for Black, Hrithik Roshan for Jodhaa Akbar, Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture,  Farhan Akhtar for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Ranveer Singh for Bajirao Mastani, Aamir Khan for Dangal, Ranbir Kapoor for Sanju and Alia Bhat for Raazi received Filmfare best actor award for portraying a real life character. In 2006 and 2019, award winners in both Male and Female categories portrayed a real life character or a biopic. 

–> In 2019 Ranbir Kapoor became the first actor to win Filmfare award for best actor for portraying a film actor on screen. Earlier Vidya Balan has earned this honour in the female category for essaying actress Silk Smita on screen for The Dirty Picture.

–> Karisma Kapoor for Zubeidaa (2001) was the first artist to win Filmfare Critics’ choice Best actor award for portraying a real life character. Later the award was received by multiple artists – Ajay Devgan for The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukerji for Black, Manjot Singh for Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Richa Chadda for Gangs of Wasseypur, Irrfan Khan for Paan Singh Tomar, Rajkumar Rao for Shahid, Manoj Bajpayee for Aligarh and Sonam Kapoor for Neerja. Many of them went on to win National Film awards – Big B, Ajay Devgan, Irrfan Khan and Rajkumar Rao in the elite Best actor category, while Sonam Kapoor received special mention.

–> Ashok Kumar for Aashirvaad, Smita Patel for Chakra, Shabana Azmi for Arth, Nana Patekar for Krantiveer, Amitabh Bachchan for Black and Paa, Priyanka Chopra for Fashion, Vidya Balan for The Dirty Picture and Kangana Ranaut for Queen – 8 actors and 9 films (Big B listed twice) have received both National and Filmfare award in best actor category for same role. Read in detail here.

16+ Bollywood real life couples have won the popular Filmfare Awards

–> R. D. Burman and Asha Bhosle, Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan, Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi, Gulzar and Rakhee Gulzar, Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, Sunil Dutt & Nargis Dutt, Pankaj Kapur and Supriya Pathak – There is a long list of Bollywood couples who won Filmfare awards in different categories, not just acting or music. Read more:

–> Black (2005) won a maximum of 11 Filmfare awards, while SRK starrer Devdas and DDLJ received 10 each.

–> Bimal Roy holds the highest of 7 awards in best director category, in fact he won every time he was nominated in this category, which is a record. He received first ever Filmfare award for Do Bigha Zameen – in best film and director categories. Dilip Kumar and SRK owns the highest among actor with a total of 8 each, while Nutan and her niece Kajol with 5 wins each hold the record in best actress category.

–> The iconic film – Sholay (1975) won just one Filmfare award – for editing.

–> Hollywood star Gregory Peck was supposed to attend the first ever award nite of Filmfare. However because of flight delay, he could attend only the after party.

–> Filmfare awards was initially planned to give the name, ‘The Clares Awards’ after the Times of India film critic – Clare Mendonca.

–> The Filmfare Awards were not organised in the years, 1987 and 1988. In 2013 Sridevi was given special jury award for her roles in Nagina and Mr. India, which could have given her Filmfare honours.

–> The trend of post-award parties in Bollywood started in 1969. The first one was given by Sunil Dutt to Dilip Kumar when he lost Filmfare best actor award for the later.

–> Bimal Roy for best direction, Shankar-Jaikishen for music, Kishore Kumar and Kumar Sanu for playback singing etc are the artists to receive hat-trick in Filmfare awards. Gulzar has narrowly missed this honour (for multiple categories) several times, and is yet to receive this honour. 

–> Bimal Roy was the first celebrity to score a hat-trick at Filmfare awards. He completed hat-trick in the third year of organized award function of Filmfare, and hence a record that will never be broken. He won the first ever trophy of best director for Do Bhiga Zameen in 1954, followed by Parineeta and Biraj Bahu in the following years. His record of 7 awards from 7 nominations in best direction category is unbeaten. Literally he is one of the very rare artists who has never lost an award after being nominated, and for 5+ nominations, it’s almost impossible.

–> Anupam Kher holds the record of maximum trophies in best comedian category with a total of 5 resulted from 10 nominations.

–> Saroj Khan is the recipient of maximum awards in best choreography with a total of 8. She has earned Filmfare awards in three decades, which is also a unique recognition. 

–> Rajkumar Santoshi is rare among the artists to receive 5 Filmfare awards in 5 different categories. Ghayal earned him Filmfare award for best story and direction, followed by Ghatak for best screenplay, China Gate for Best Dialogue and Critics Award for Best Film for The Legend of Bhagat Singh.

The post with facts related to Filmfare is not ending here…. I shall add more of them, definitely. 

Also read a few more topics on Filmfare awards. Here is the page link. Click on the images to read.