The 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 was held at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Sarusajai, Guwahati, on 15 February. The event was hosted outside Mumbai for the first time in six decades. Karan Johar and Vicky Kaushal hosted the night of the awards ceremony.
The red carpet saw the likes of Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Taapsee Pannu, and Madhuri Dixit.
Ayushmann Khurrana performed to a medley of retro and new beats of Bollywood, to pay special tribute to all the ‘Showmen of Bollywood’. Madhuri Dixit performed to songs of the ‘golden voices of our country’… Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya (Lata Mangeshkar), In Ankhon (Asha Bhosle), Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai (Alka Yagnik) among others. Varun Dhawan and Kartik Aaryan also performed, the latter making his Filmfare stage debut.
65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 – Kartik Aaryan performing on a medley of retro and latest beats
Both Article 15 (which spoke about caste discrimination) and Sonchiriya (which was about feared dacoits who once terrorised the Indian heartlands), won the Critics Award for Best Film.
The crew of Gully Boy was on its feet through the night receiving more than ten awards including Best Actor in a Leading Role Male (Ranveer Singh) and Female (Alia Bhatt), Best Album (Ankur Tewari and Zoya Akhtar), Best Supporting Actor Male (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and Female (Amruta Subhash), Best Director (Zoya Akhtar), Best Production Design (Suzanne Caplan Merwanji), Best Dialogue (Vijay Maurya), Best Cinematography (Jay Oza) and Best Film.
65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 – Gully Boy cast winners pose with The Black Lady
If there was one person who was most unhappy with the goings on at Filmfare, it was Kangana Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel. She made her displeasure be known as well by lashing out against the winners, Filmfare, Alia Bhatt, KJo, Ananya Panday, and ‘nepo gang’ on Twitter over the course of two days. There were several criticisms over some of the award choices from others as well. In fact, critics of the awards trended #Boycottfilmfare on Twitter disappointed with these choices.
While Ayushmann Khurrana won the Critics Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Male for Article 15, both Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar won the Critics Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Female for their film Saand Ki Aankh based on real-life sharpshooters.
Shahid Kapoor starrer Kabir Singh won Best Album along with Gully Boy which also won Best Lyrics. Best Playback Singers Male and Female went to Arijit Singh and Shilpa Rao for Kalank and War respectively.
In the debutant category, Aditya Dhar won Best Debut Director for Uri: The Surgical Strike while Abhimanyu Dassani bagged Best Debut Actor for Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota and Ananya Pandey(!) Best Debut Actress for Student Of The Year 2.
Actress Ananya Pandey at the 65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020
On the technical front, Best Action and Best VFX went to War, Best Background Score to Gully Boy, Best Choreography to Kalank, Best Costume to Sonchiriya, Best Editing and Best Sound Design to Uri: The Surgical Strike and Best Original Story to Article 15. Several awards were given in the short film category too.
Filmfare RD Burman Award completes 25 years with this edition and to mark this occasion, Ranveer Singh danced to a couple of old classics. This year the award went to Sashwat Sachdev for ‘Upcoming Music Talent’ for the film Uri: The Surgical Strike. A Lifetime Achievement Award went Ramesh Sippy’s way and the award for Excellence In Cinema went to actor Govinda.
Vicky Kaushal performed an ode to ’65 years of Filmfare Awards’ and Akshay Kumar also performed to a medley of songs. There was also a special performance of a traditional Assamese folk dance by a group of dancers. Assam has been in the grip of a series of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Filmfare’s decision to host this event there this year has raised a few eyebrows with several critics of the current dispensation wondering if this was done as a diversion.
65th Amazon Filmfare Awards 2020 – Vicky Kaushal giving an ode to 65 years of Filmfare Awards (1)
Deepak Lamba, CEO, Worldwide Media has said in a statement, “With this year’s Filmfare Awards we have curated a host of strategic partnerships and moved the ceremony to Assam for charting a new course of history in the 65-year old legacy of the awards. Collaborating with like-minded partners like Awesome Assam, Amazon and Facebook will have a resounding positive influence on the way Filmfare fans consume, perceive and share the content.”
Jitesh Pillai, Editor of Filmfare said, “Since our first edition, the Filmfare Awards have been known for recognising and acknowledging the best of talent who have played a telling role towards changing the landscape of Indian cinema. This is the first time in our 65-year-old legacy that Filmfare has brought the Bollywood fraternity to celebrate the achievements of the industry along with the notable performances of the year. As we embark on a new chapter, we hope to transcend boundaries by bringing together people and communities through this celebration of excellence in future editions as well.”
The television broadcast of the show will be on 22 Feb, 7.30 PM on Colors Cineplex.
Watch the trailer of Gully Boy here:
