New Delhi: Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies emerged as the biggest winner at the 70th Filmfare Awards, clinching 13 trophies including Best Film and Best Director for Rao.
The glittering ceremony, held on Saturday at EKA Arena in Ahmedabad, was hosted by Shah Rukh Khan, Karan Johar, and Maniesh Paul.
The film, which released in 2024, tells the story of two brides who accidentally swap places during a train journey.
Lead actors Pratibha Ranta and Nitanshi Goel both received top honours — Ranta won the Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Female), while Goel was named Best Debut Actor (Female).
Chhaya Kadam and Ravi Kishan also took home awards for Best Supporting Actor in their respective categories.
Sneha Desai’s writing for Laapataa Ladies earned her dual honours for Best Screenplay and Best Dialogue.
The film also dominated the music section, with Ram Sampath winning Best Music Album and Best Background Score, and Prashant Pandey taking Best Lyrics.
Arijit Singh added to the film’s tally with a win for Best Playback Singer (Male), while Darshan Jalan bagged Best Costume Design.
In other major categories, Alia Bhatt won Best Actor (Female) for Vasan Bala’s Jigra, while Abhishek Bachchan (I Want to Talk) and Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion) shared the Best Actor (Male) title.
Rajkummar Rao received the Critics’ Award for Best Actor (Male) for his portrayal of visually impaired entrepreneur Srikanth Bolla in Srikanth.
I Want to Talk also earned Shoojit Sircar the Critics’ Award for Best Film, and Article 370 co-director Aditya Suhas Jambhale shared the Best Debut Director honour with Kunal Kemmu (Madgaon Express).
Aditya Dhar and Monal Thakkar received the Best Story award for Article 370.
Lakshya was named Best Debut Actor (Male) for the action thriller Kill, which also swept several technical awards — Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Action, and Best Sound Design.
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The Lifetime Achievement Award was jointly conferred on veteran actress Zeenat Aman and the late filmmaker Shyam Benegal.
Achint Thakkar won the RD Burman Award for emerging musical talent for his work in Jigra and Mr and Mrs Mahi.
Madhubanti Bagchi won Best Playback Singer (Female) for Stree 2, while Bad Newz choreographers Bosco-Caesar received the Best Choreography award for the viral hit Tauba Tauba, starring Vicky Kaushal.
Aditya Sarpotdar’s Munjya bagged Best VFX for Redefine Studios, rounding off an evening that celebrated creativity, craft, and the resurgence of storytelling-driven cinema in Bollywood.
