And the AWARD goes to…

1. Sharib Hashmi has won his first Screen Award of Best Actor in a comic role.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role(Male): Inaamulhaq (Filmistaan)

Inaamulhaq

The filmistaani, as he likes to address himself, didn’t have an easy journey reaching the awards podium. With his background in theatre, Inaamulhaq made a humble beginning with Indian People’s Theatre Association (IPTA) in Saharanpur and dreamt of making it big in Mumbai. The actor, who donned the role of Aftab, a Pakistani dealer of pirated Hindi film CDs in Filmistaan, has successfully written the scripts of popular TV shows like Comedy Circus for many years, before he came to the limelight with this film. The moment of receiving the trophy was an unbelievable one for the actor, but he hopes that there will be many more.

1. Inaamulhaq won his first trophy as the Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role(Female): Tabu (Haider) and Seema Pahwa (Ankhon Dekhi)

Tabu

Film-maker Vishal Bhardwaj had openly confessed that if Tabu hadn’t taken up the role of Gazala, he would not have made Haider. It’s not surprising then that the Screen Jury chose her for the Best Actor In A Supporting Role (Female) this year.
Tabu has won Screen trophies earlier in 2001 for Best Actor (Female) for the film Astitva, and in 2008 for Best Actor (Female) for the film Cheeni Kum. She shared the award with seasoned actress, Seema Pahwa and was happy to see that content-oriented films like Ankhon Dekhi are doing well.

4. Is the number of Screen trophies won by Tabu

Seema Pahwa

Theatre-actor, Seema Pahwa was more than delighted to receive the award for Ankhon Dekhi. The actor, who has been a familiar face on television also (she had a prominent role in Hum Log), was very happy that small efforts are being recognised and making a big difference. Strangely enough, the actor had taken an oath not to eat anything at the Awards ceremony until her film won at least three awards!

1. Is the number of Award that Seema Pahwa has won

Best Actor in a Negative Role(Male): Tahir Raj Bhasin (Mardaani)

Tahir Raj Bhasin

This is the first time that a debutant has won in the Negative Role (Male) category. And so, for Tahir Raj Bhasin, it was nothing less than a pleasant surprise when he bagged the award, outshining his competitors that included seasoned actors like Kay Kay Menon, Riteish Deshmukh and Vijay Raaz!
Before the release of his film, the actor, who debuted as the chief antagonist in Mardaani, was only concerned that girls would hate him. But he can’t stop smiling after holding the coveted Golden Lady.

1. Tahir Raj Bhasin won his first acting Award at 21st Annual Life OK Screen Award

Best Actor in a Negative Role (Female): Huma Qureshi (Dedh Ishqiya)

Huma Qureshi

It is not every year that there’s a separate category for Best Actor In a Negative Role (Female). However, whenever there has been one, it’s interesting to note that a leading lady from the industry has won the award. In the past, Priyanka Chopra was the only actress to have bagged the trophy twice for a negative role. This time around, when Huma Qureshi won the award for her role in Dedh Ishqiya, she was humble enough to mention that it was courtesy Madhuri Dixit Nene without whom her character wouldn’t have blossomed. Interestingly, Dixit was nominated alongside Qureshi.

1. This is the first time  that Huma Qureshi has won the Golden Lady

Most Promising Newcomer (Male):  Tiger Shroff (Heropanti)

Tiger Shroff

Since the time he entered the industry with the blockbuster Heropanti, his humility is something that everybody has been talking about. Tiger Shroff’s involvement with the film has been another talking point. It was his debut this year, but the young actor won over everyone with his perfect moves off-screen. A big Shiva bhakt, the actor initiated a trip to Varanasi to promote the film.
When he won the Award, it took a long time for the feeling to sink in. The actor, who also performed at the ceremony, went on the stage to receive it in the costume he wore during his performance. The actor admitted that he had been far more worried about the performance— his first live one— so the feeling of victory sank in much later.

1. Tiger Shroff walked away with his  first Award as a debutant

Most Promising Newcomer(Female):  Patralekha (CityLights)

Patralekha

Over the last two decades, since the Screen Awards  came into existence, it has rarely been a case that an actress from a considerably dark film, has won the Award in the debut category. It has usually gone to actresses like Lara Dutta, Aishwarya Rai, Parineeti Chopra, etc who have made their debut with mainstream commercial projects. And that was the reason why Patralekha, who started out with an off-beat character in CityLights, was least expecting the award to come her way. However, there have been actresses like Shilpa Navalkar (Kairee) and Gayatri Joshi (Swades), who have won in the category despite the unconventional films they starred in.

1. Patralekha won her first Screen Award

Best Child Artiste: Parth Bhalerao (Bhoothnath Returns)

Parth Bhalerao

The 14-year-old Parth could hardly manage a sentence after receiving the Best Child Artiste Award for Bhoothnath Returns from Padmini Kolhapure, Parikshat Sahni and Chunky Panday. But he wasn’t hesitant at all when host Siddharth Malhotra asked him to perform with him. He broke into an impromptu jig with Malhotra, leaving the audience in splits. It’s his theatre background that he owes everything to, he mentioned at the sidelines of the event. Interestingly, his other film Killa, has also won acclaim at international film festivals.

1. Is the number of Best Child Artiste Award that Parth Bhalerao has won not counting a National Award

Most Promising Debut Director: Nitin Kakkar (Filmistaan)

Nitin Kakkar

Not many small budget films are recognised as much as Filmistaan was. Film-maker Nitin Kakkar, who won the Best Debut Director trophy for the film, was happy that the film bagged three awards out of the four nominations it got. More than winning an award himself, he was happier for his two actors to have won trophies in different categories. The director, who had a tough time getting a release for his film, now hopes that the journey will become a little easier.

1. Nitin Kakkar won the first Screen Award

Best Ensemble Cast : Ankhon Dekhi

Rajat Kapoor poses with the cast Seema Pahwa, Mahesh Sharma,Taranjit Kaur, Maya Sarao, Manu Rishi

Neither film-maker Rajat Kapoor, nor any of his team members from the film Ankhon Dekhi, had expected to bag this trophy that had nominations including Dedh Ishqiya, Haider, Mardaani and Finding Fanny. But they took away the trophy with much elan. While Sanjay Mishra, who has been hugely applauded for his character, was missing, the rest of the team made up for him while celebrating their victory. The award category that began in 2010, has almost always recognised off-beat films like Peepli (Live), Club 60.

1. Is the number of Screen Awards that Rajat Kapoor has won

Best Background Score: Julius Packiam (Mardaani)

Julius Packiam

Julius Packiam who was nominated both for Kick and Mardaani walked away with the Best Background Score award for the latter. In an issue based film like Mardaani,  which thrives on its background score, the music becomes a crucial aspect to make an impact.  And Packiam packed in just the right amount of punch to make the Jury take note of the touching score he composed for Mardaani.

1. Is the number of Award that Julius Packiam has won

Best Music : Mithoon and Ankit Tiwari (Ek Villain)

Ankit Tiwari and Mithoon pose with their trophy

In complete sync with each other, Ankit Tiwari and Mithoon who jointly composed the music for Ek Villain went on stage together to collect their trophy. The duo were also part of the Aashiqui 2 team for which they won numerous accolades last year. Interestingly, Mithoon who has also written the lyrics for Banjara for Ek Villain was nominated in the Best Lyrics category as well. Mithoon performed an impromptu act by singing the song on stage. Tiwari, who is also a singer has composed the music for a majority of songs. He sang Tum hi ho from Aashiqui 2 on behalf of Arijit Singh who had originally sung the number.

1. Is the number of Awards  that the duo  has won

Best Playback Singer (Male): Arijit Singh (Muskuraane ki wajah, CityLights)

Arijit Singh

The singer from West Bengal, Arijit Singh who captivated everyone with Tum hi ho last year once again charmed the audience and Screen Jury with the extremely romantic Muskurane ki wajah from CityLights. The song which played in the background in the film was picturised on Rajkummar Rao and newbie Patralekha. It was Rao who went on stage to collect the award as Singh was away for a performance in Dubai. Singh who prefers to keep an extremely low profile, is making a mark with his silken voice in romantic tracks as he was also nominated this year for the tender, Suno na sange marmar from Youngistaan.

2. Is the  number of  Screen Awards  that Arijit Singh has won

Best Playback Singer (Female): Jyoti and Sultana Nooran (Patakha Guddi, Highway)

Jyoti and Sultana Nooran are all smiles after winning their first Screen Award

The distinctive quality about the Nooran sisters who belong to Jalandhar, Punjab, is that their voice and rendition reflects the rich cultural and music traditions of Punjab folk music. The sisters who started training at a very young age, gained recognition on television with Nikki Aawaz Punjab Di. They have made their mark, travelling far and wide and sung songs that are seeped in traditions. In Bollywood, the sisters made an impact with Patakha guddi, a powerful Sufi track that impressed the Jury to win them the Screen Award for Best Singer.

1. Is the number of  Awards that the Nooran sisters have won

Best Lyrics: Kausar Munir (Suno na Sangmarmar, Youngistan)

Kausar Munir receives her trophy from Ila Arun

A graduate in English literature from St, Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Kausar Munir was always passionate about music and songs. So when her name was announced as the winner in the Best Lyrics category, she was very excited. Interestingly, Suno na sange marmar for which she won the Award was a Bengali composition by Jeet Gannguli. Though the music was retained, Munir wrote new lyrics in Hindi which earned her the first nomination from the Screen Jury.
Munir started her career in television with a song for the serial Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin and has written songs for films like Tashan, Ishaqzaade, Ek Tha Tiger and Ishq In Paris.

1. Is the  number of  Screen Award that  Kausar Munir has won

Best Story: Rajat Kapoor (Ankhon Dekhi)

Rajat Kapoor

A look at the winners of this category over the years, makes it evident that small budget and innovative films have won this award most of the time rather than the big budget and entertainers. Astitva, Chandani Bar, Filhaal, Iqbal, Taare Zameen Par, A Wednesday are some of the films that have won big in the category. While Kapoor was happy to get the trophy, he felt that since screenplay and dialogues are also a part of the story, he should have been nominated in those categories as well.  However, he won the Best Ensemble Cast for his film.

3. Is the  number of  Screen Awards that Rajat Kapoor has won in various categories

Best Screenplay: Sandeep A Varma (Manjunath)

Sandeep A Varma

Just like the Best Story category, even the Best Screenplay trophy usually goes to a content driven film. Interestingly, in the 21 years of Screen Awards, except for Prakash Jha and Sanjay Leela Bhansali, no one else has won this award more than once. Even Jha and Bhansali have won it twice that too with their co-writers.
Varma, who won the award for the realistic portrayal of the life of slain Indian Oil Corporation manager, Shanmughan Manjunath, in his first film Manjunath, looks at it as a big encouragement.

1. Sandeep A Varma won his first  Screen Award 

Best Dialogue: Abhijat Joshi  and Rajkumar Hirani ( PK)

Rajkumar Hirani

For both Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi winning the trophy for the Best Dialogue (PK) was a very special moment. Hirani and Joshi who have  jointly written the dialogues for 3 Idiots and Lage Raho Munnabhai also won in the same category. While co-writer Joshi who lives in Ohio was absent, Hirani stepped on stage to receive the Award on behalf of both. Rather sceptical about winning an Award because of the  controversies that the film was subjected to, Hirani was thrilled about walking away with the trophy.

8. Are the number of  Awards that Rajkumar Hirani has won

Best Editing: Sanjib Datta (Mardaani)

Sanjib Datta

Mardaani was freelance editor, Sanjib Datta’s second film for Yash Raj Films after Lafangey Parindey. He was   thrilled to have bagged the award for Best Editing for the production house. Intriguingly, both the films Datta edited for YRF have been helmed by Pradeep Sarkar. Films associated with YRF have hit the right chord in this category as four films from their banner have won this award in the last decade— Chak De! India, Band Baaja Baraat, Dhoom and Kal Ho Naa Ho.

1. Is the number of  Award  won by Sanjib Datta

Best Sound Design : Anil Khobragade and Prabal Pradhan (Mardaani)

Anil Khobargade and Prabal Pradhan receive the Award from Manasvi Mamgai

Anil Khobargade was rather dazed and confessed that the news of winning the trophy for Best Sound Design has not sunk in. For the debutant having won an award in his first attempt is a big thing. Khobargade who had earlier assisted Pradeep Sarkar for seven years in his studio was taken on board for Mardaani. Earlier, Khobargade had assisted Bishwadeep Chatterjee in the sound department on Lafangey Parindey.

1. Is the number of  Award that the duo have won

Best Cinematography: Bobby Singh (Queen)

Vikas Bahl receives the award on behalf of Bobby Singh from Mishti and Rana Daggubati

The stunning cinematography that one witnessed in Queen was the result of the late cinematographer Bobby Singh, who passed away during the shooting of the film. Singh had shot a major part of the film, before taking a break for a holiday in Goa, where he suffered a fatal asthma attack, leaving director Vikas Bahl shattered. Ultimately, Sidharth Diwan stepped in and completed the remaining portion of the Delhi shoot and the London thumakada song. Singh had earlier shown his finesse in films like Special 26, Gangster, Woh Lamhe and Jannat 2.

1. Is the  number of Screen trophies that Singh has won

Best Special Effects : Prime Focus,  Merzin Tavaria and Reupal Rawal ( Kick )

Reupul Rawal

Since the time the Best Special Effects Award came into existence in 2004, Shah Rukh Khan’s company, Red Chillies Entertainment has been the one to walk away with most of the trophies — three to be precise. This time around, it was Prime Focus that took the trophy home for Kick. Interestingly, even for them, it was the second award after Vaah! Life Ho Toh Aisi in 2006!

2. Is the number of Screen Award that Prime Focus has won

Best Production Design: Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray (Haider)

Subrata Chakraborty and Amit Ray

Going by the records over the years, unconventional films have always walked away with the Best Production Design Award. The tradition continued this year as well and Amit Ray and Subrata Chakraborty won the trophy for the visually stunning designs for Haider. Going by the other films the duo did last year like Hawaa Hawaai and Dedh Ishqiya, it is quite evident that the duo has a penchant for exploring unchartered territories.

1. Is the  number of Screen Award won by the duo

Best Choreography: Ahmed Khan (Kick, Jumme ki Raat )

Ahmed Khan

Though Ahmed Khan was thrilled to bits about bagging the award, he was a tad disappointed as he was in Hyderabad and could not make it for the event. More than him, his wife, Shaira was even more disappointed as she was very excited about attending the awards with Sajid Nadiadwala’s wife, Wardha. However, when we personally went to their home to present hm the trophy, the smile on his and his son’s face more than made up for their absence at the event.

1. Is the  number of Screen trophies that Khan has won

Best Action: Anal Arasu (Heropanti)

Anal Arasu

Anal Arasu who was shooting for a South film in Malaysia flew down to Chennai first, where he is based, and changed into his best Sunday suit to reach Mumbai in time for the Screen Awards! Nothing could take away the satisfied look on his face as he went up on the stage to receive his trophy.

1. Is the number of Screen Award that Arasu has won

Best Costume : Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma ( PK )

Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma

Unlike most of the other films when costume designers have to brainstorm to design the look of a character, for PK the designers just had to walk down the streets and spot interesting costumes. So when their names were announced for Best Costume, the duo, Manoshi and Rushi could hardly contain their excitement. Sharing their happiness the duo posed with one and all, whilst talking about how difficult it was to convince strangers on the road to part with their clothes! In Mandava, the designers liked a guy’s shirt, who refused to give it because it was a gift from his wife but relented after he convinced his wife that Aamir Khan will wear it.

1. Is the number of Screen Award that the costume designer duo has bagged 

Best Animation: Chaar Sahibzaade

Harry Baweja takes the award from actor Biswajit and Kainat Arora

Producer-director Harry Baweja could not contain his excitement when he was told about the nomination and waited eagerly for the invite. He came to attend the show with son Harman, who during the film’s promotions revealed how involved his father was with Chaar Sahibzaade. Baweja Sr, reportedly spent around 1100-1200 hours in the studios to make sure that the animation film turned out to be the best.

1. Is the number of Screen Award that Baweja has won

Best Film Marketing: 2 States

The film 2 States for which the production house won the Award

The Best Film Marketing category was  started two years ago and winning the Award was a first for  Dharma Productions. Ingenious marketing strategies included the main cast Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan visiting colleges accompanied at times by music directors Shankar- Ehsaan- Loy, With Bhatt playing a Tamilian the film was also promoted aggressively in the South. The marketing had elements showing the marriage of two cultures (North and South).

1. Is the  number of Marketing Award that Dharma Productions has won

Best Actor Award (Male) Popular Choice: Shah Rukh Khan (Happy New Year)

Shah Rukh Khan

The Badshah of Bollywood has consistently been a favourite with the audience. It came as no surprise that this time too, he walked away with the Golden Lady for the Best Actor in Popular Category. The actor, who entertained many with his film Happy New Year, won the trophy for the second time consecutively. Last year, he had bagged the award for Chennai Express. In fact, over the years, Khan has won many trophies in both Popular as well as Best Actor (Jury) category for films like Chak De! India. He has also bagged many awards in the Best Jodi category too.

16. Are the number of  Golden Ladies trophy that Shah Rukh Khan has won till date

Best Actor Award (Female) Popular Choice: Deepika Padukone (Happy New Year)

Deepika Padukone

The leggy lass, who towered over all the other actresses with four Rs.100-crore plus films to her credit last year, this time ruled in the popular category. Deepika Padukone took away the Best Actor Award (Female) Popular Choice for her performance in Happy New Year that crossed the Rs.200-crore mark in 2014.
In a humble gesture, Padukone dedicated her award to the Queen actress, Kangana Ranaut, as she thought that it was Ranaut who was the talking point throughout the year. On the sidelines of the Awards, the actress remarked, “I really don’t know why I have got this trophy. It should have been Kangana. 2014 was the Queen’s year.”
But this isn’t the first time that Padukone bagged the Popular Choice Award. In a hat-trick of sorts, while last year she won the Jury, and the Popular Category awards. Earlier, she had won the Popular Category trophy in 2012 as well.

8. Are the number of Screen Awards that Deepika Padukone have won over the years

Life OK Hero Awards (Female) : Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt

When Alia Bhatt went on stage to receive the Life OK Hero Award (Female) for her performance in Highway,  host Shah Rukh Khan asked her to perform on Wanna mash up—the number has become extremely popular after the film’s release. She broke into an impromptu jig on Khan’s insistence. Following her deft moves, there was a look of amazement on his face as  SRK tried to match steps with her. As the actor came down from the stage, all she wanted to know was whether  the impromptu performance looked good. She was relieved when her manager told her, she had done a good job. “Really! You think so!” she said with disbelief!

1. Is the  number of Golden trophy that Alia Bhatt  bagged for her films in 2014.