Bollywood blockbuster Dhurandhar swept the Chetak Screen Awards 2026 with 14 wins at a glittering ceremony on Sunday, including Best Actor (Male) for Ranveer Singh, Best Director for Aditya Dhar and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male) for Akshaye Khanna.
The film dominated the technical categories too, winning awards for editing, sound design, special effects, cinematography, production design, background score, action, hairstyling and make-up. It shared the Best Costume award with another blockbuster Chhaava.
Haq, Suparn Verma’s film documenting the landmark Shah Bano case, won Best Actor (Female) for Yami Gautam Dhar’s portrayal of Shah Bano, and Best Film for Gender Sensitivity.
The evening’s other significant recognitions, including for Best Film, went to Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound, inspired by a true story of friendship and tragedy during the Covid lockdown.
Karan Johar-backed Homebound won the Best Film award.
On stage to receive the award was the entire team, from director Ghaywan and lead actors Ishaan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa to producer Karan Johar and Adar Poonawala, who now holds a stake in Dharma Productions.
Khatter dedicated the award to those who fight every day for their identity. “This film is an effort to give voice to the voiceless and I would like to thank everyone for giving our film a voice,” he said. The award was presented by Nita Mukesh Ambani, Chairperson, Reliance Foundation, and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Also Read – Chetak Screen Awards 2026 full winners list
The award for Best Film Writing, Story and Screenplay went to Homebound, shared by Basharat Peer, Ghaywan and Sumit Roy. The film also bagged the Best Supporting Actor (Female) award for Shalini Vatsa.
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Marking a return after a hiatus of seven years, the awards, instituted by The Indian Express Group in 1995, were presented in a ceremony hosted by actor Alia Bhatt along with actor-comedian Sunil Grover, stand-up comedian Zakir Khan and Saurabh Dwivedi, Editor- Hindi, The Indian Express.
Sunil Grover and Alia Bhatt turned hosts for Chetak Screen Awards 2026.
The presentation was streamed live on SonyLIV, Sony Entertainment Television, and YouTube, during an evening that belonged equally to blockbusters, quietly powerful films, and to a legend the industry bid farewell to last year.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed posthumously on Dharmendra. Javed Akhtar, who presented it alongside Maharashtra Chief Minister Fadnavis and Ramesh Sippy, recalled meeting the actor in 1965, when Akhtar was 20 years old and earning Rs 175 as an assistant director. “I have no idea why he shook my hand with so much warmth,” he said. He remembered a phone call years later: “I am launching my son. You have to write the script.” That film was Betaab. “He was a strange combination of tremendous self-respect, dignity and complete humility,” Akhtar said.
The award was received by Bobby Deol. “I see the love for my father in all your eyes,” said a teary-eyed Deol, adding, “He touched all of your hearts through his work, through his reels, which was a new hobby of his. He unlocked so many hearts — for my brother, for me, for every family member. I still feel like I will go home and tell him, ‘Papa, I am bringing your award because you couldn’t come…’ I am grateful to God for making me his son. Thank you, Screen. Papa, you are the best.”
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Bobby Deol at Chetak Screen Awards 2026.
In the OTT category, Stolen, inspired by real incidents and following two brothers in a desperate search for a kidnapped baby, won four of five awards: Best Film (Karan Tejpal), Best Actor (Abhishek Banerjee), and Best Script (Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra and Swapnil Salkar).
Best OTT Actor (Female) went to Sanya Malhotra for Mrs., a remake of the Malayalam film The Great Indian Kitchen, in which she plays a newlywed woman navigating regressive patriarchal traditions.
In music, Mohit Suri’s Saiyaara dominated. Faheem Abdullah and Shreya Ghoshal won Best Playback Singer Male and Female, respectively, for the film’s title track. The song itself won Best Song, credited to Tanishk Bagchi, Abdullah and Arslan Nizami. The film’s leads, Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda, won Breakthrough Debut Male and Female, respectively.
Sitaare Zameen Par, R S Prasanna’s sports dramedy produced by and starring Aamir Khan as a self-absorbed basketball coach who trains a team of young adults, mostly with Down’s Syndrome, for a tournament in three months, received a special award titled ‘Screen’s Cinema of Courage Award’. It was presented by Karan Johar and Siddharth Roy Kapur.
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The evening also paused to remember all those the industry lost in the past year. In a special video segment, the audience rose to honour Dharmendra, Achyut Potdar, Asrani, Chandra Barot, Dheeraj Kumar, Deb Mukherjee, Kamini Kaushal, Manoj Kumar, Partho Ghosh, Pritish Nandy, Rakesh Pandey, Satish Shah, Shefali Jariwala and Zubeen Garg.
The event featured a performance by Badshah, and a segment in which Shahzad Ali sang “Ishq Jalakar” and “Karavan” from Dhurandhar in an act composed by Ranjit Barot, with Siddhant Chaturvedi joining on stage.
At Chetak Screen Awards 2026, Shahzad Ali sang “Ishq Jalakar” and “Karavan” from Dhurandhar in an act composed by Ranjit Barot.
Addressing the gathering, Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, thanked actor Vicky Kaushal, whom he said he had called a few weeks ago, asking him not to leak the awards. He thanked all nominees who came without knowing whether they had won.
The nominees and winners across 31 categories were selected by the Screen Academy — an independent, not-for-profit body (founding patron Lodha Foundation and supported by Tafe) — comprising over 50 acclaimed filmmakers, artistes and cultural voices. The Academy serves not only as a voting body, but as the custodian of standards, safeguarding the integrity and future of the Screen Awards.
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Some of the Screen Academy members are Abhishek Chaubey, director and screenwriter; Bishwadeep Chatterjee, sound designer; Deepa Bhatia, film editor and director; Jaideep Sahni, screenwriter and lyricist; John Abraham, actor and producer; Kabir Khan, director; Karan Johar, director, producer; Kausar Munir, lyricist and screenwriter; Payal Kapadia, director; Pooja Ladha Surti, editor and screenwriter; Rima Das, writer, director and editor; Vidya Balan, actor; Vinay Kumar, actor, director and theatre researcher.
Priya Jaikumar, Professor and Chair of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, developed detailed rubrics for Academy members to follow while scoring.
