The Chetak Screen Awards 2026 celebrated cinematic merit on April 5 in Mumbai. Aditya Dhar’s spy-thriller Dhurandhar dominated the night, earning Ranveer Singh Best Actor. Neeraj Ghaywan’s Homebound secured Best Film, while Yami Gautam was named Best Actor (Female) for her performance in Haq.
The last version of the Film Awards sponsored by The Indian Express was the Chetak Screen Awards 2026, which was held in Mumbai on 5 April 2026, with a proclamation that it was being marketed as the most credible film awards in India.
Unlike other peer awards that are combined voting of the audience and decision-making by the jury, the Screen Awards will be given by the Screen Academy, a jury of industry professionals, to Hindi-language films and few OTT projects released in 2025.
The event was aimed at recognition based on merit and the organisers concentrated on the fact that the event was not campaigned and that due attention was given to the technical craft and stories telling.
This credibility angle was added further by the superiority of the films of critical respect such as Homebound and Dhurandhar which received the major prizes in 2026.
The most memorable headline of the Screen Awards 2026 was the overall success of the spy-thriller Dhurandhar by Aditya Dhar who won the majority of the awards in the evening such as Best Director, Best Actor (Male) and several technical awards.
On the other hand, the equilibrium between the star-oriented commercial and the auteur-oriented narration was regained in the Academy when Neeraj Ghaywan received the award of the Best Film in his film Homebound.
Ranveer Singh has performed well in the performance front winning the Best Actor (Male) in Dhurandhar over other stiff competition like Vicky Kaushal and others in Chhaava and Saiyaara. Yami Gautam (Haque Best Actor (Female)) was awarded the award as she participated in the thriller Haq, defeating Deepika Padukone (Dhadak 2) and Dia Mirza (Saiyaara).
The decisions emphasized the preference of the Academy towards dramatic and rich performances as opposed to daily commercial appearance.
Best Debut (Male) and Best Debut (Female) went to Homebound by Jugal Bafna and Vishal Jethwa respectively and Prince Mandal and Avika Gor were also rewarded in the supporting-actor categories.
All in all, it was a mix of established stars and of up-and-coming talent with the most coveted laurels stacked on both Homebound and Dhurandhar.
These awards demonstrate the superiority of Dhurandhar in technical categories, as the film received 1314 trophies in total, becoming the most-decorated movie of that evening.
Homebound was also close behind, particularly in the craft and emerging-talent category, but Dhadak 2, Haq, Saiyaara, Sitaare Zameen Par, and Chhaava were also listed among the winners in the acting and technical category.
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