New Delhi: The 2025 Filmfare Awards, held in Ahmedabad last weekend, have sparked controversy not only for their winners but also for who they snubbed. While The Missing Ladies emerged the biggest winner of the night, winning the Best Film award along with 12 other honours, filmmaker Sudipto Sen, who directed the National Award-winning The Kerala Story, publicly criticized the awards, calling them a spectacle with little respect for true cinema.
Major wins at Filmfare 2025
The star-studded event celebrated some of the biggest names in Hindi cinema:
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Best Film: missing ladies
Best Actor (Male): Shared by Abhishek Bachchan (I Want to Talk) and Kartik Aryan (Chandu Champion)
best Actress: Alia Bhatt (Jigra)
While many celebrated the recognition of Missing Ladies, praising it for its socially relevant storytelling, Sen expressed deep disappointment at what he saw as the industry’s biased choices.
Sudipto Sen’s Instagram post
Taking to Instagram, Sudipto Sen issued a strongly worded statement condemning the Filmfare jury and the entire event. In his post he wrote:
“This year’s Filmfare is truly an expose of the Indian “nouvelle vague”… a clearly stolen film… a film that is a tutorial in cruelty and a film that could not survive at the box office for more than 72 hours… snatched away most of the crowns…”
He further accused the awards of ignoring what he believed were the best works of 2024, pointing to a bias towards The Kerala Story, which won Best Director and Best Cinematography at the National Film Awards last month.
Read this also Filmfare Awards 2025 Complete Winners List: From Alia Bhatt to Lakshya, who took home what from the star-studded night?
Rejecting the “fake tapestry” of Bollywood
In his strongly worded message, Sen expressed relief at not being part of the superficial and sycophantic film industry troupe:
“We have been spared the fake smiles – fake comraderies and most importantly not indulging in any flattery. In the end I am happy that we have been spared from hanging out with this farce in the name of cinema in Mumbai and taking selfies in Cannes.”
He also took a dig at the media and cinema journalism, writing in the caption:
“I never expect anything great from any Indian cinema establishment, especially when it is media or cinema journalism. They are mostly influenced by the glamor and rich world of the stars, just like people from villages and small towns gather in front of Mr. Bachchan or SRK’s house. In fact they have zero contribution towards Indian cinema, cinema art – contrary to the way the world media does for world cinema.”
Take a look at the post:
The Kerala Story – National Award
The Kerala Story was one of the most talked about films of 2024. Based on the alleged radicalization and forced conversion of Kerala women who were later recruited into ISIS, the film sparked both widespread debate and critical box office success. Despite intense reaction from some quarters, it was recognized by the National Film Awards, with Sudipto Sen winning the Best Director award and the film also receiving the Best Cinematography award.