Here Are All The 2025 Filmfare Awards Nominations

Filmfare nominations aren’t really about the trophies themselves. Instead, they’re always about the shifting power centres of Bollywood: about who Bollywood wants to rewards, who it wants to sidelines, and which films manage to slip through the cracks of spectacle to command our attention.

This year, that story is written in bold by Laapataa Ladies, a film that began as a quiet Kiran Rao project and has now stormed nearly every category in sight. Best Film, Best Director, Screenplay, Music, Debut, Critics’ nods—it is literally a takeover. That a socially grounded, small-town drama has managed to eclipse the franchise machines and tentpole spectacles of the year says something fundamental: the Hindi film industry is finally taking its mid-budget storytellers seriously again.

The Rise of the Middleweight Films

If the last few years were about scale—mega spectacles like Pathaan or RRR—this year’s Filmfare slate celebrates the middleweights. Laapataa Ladies, Article 370, Merry Christmas, Maidaan, and Stree 2 don’t fit the traditional “blockbuster” mould. They’re not all tentpoles, yet they’ve cut across audiences with clarity.

Article 370 finds itself in heavy categories—Best Film, Director, and Acting—showing that the political thriller format, when done with craft, isn’t just niche. Stree 2, a horror-comedy sequel, proves franchises don’t have to be brainless extensions; Amar Kaushik has managed to keep the sharp writing and cultural satire alive. Even Maidaan, which had a staggered and troubled release journey, lands multiple nods including A.R. Rahman’s music, rewarding its ambition and Sharma’s old-school sports drama ethos.

There’s a telling absence here too: where are the mega entertainers that usually bulldoze their way in? Films like Bade Miyan Chote Miyan or Singham Again might have had box office muscle, but they didn’t make the prestige cut. This year, quality mid-range films have seized the space between arthouse and mass spectacle.

Women at the Centre, Finally

If the films speak of a recalibration of scale, the acting categories speak of something more overdue: women finally in the driver’s seat. Look at the Best Actress slate and you see Alia Bhatt with Jigra, Kareena Kapoor Khan with Crew and The Buckingham Murders, Tabu with Crew, Yami Gautam with Article 370, and the Critics’ circle lifting up Nitanshi Goel and Pratibha Ranta for Laapataa Ladies.

These aren’t token inclusions; they’re the defining performances of the year. Bhatt, in particular, has become the rare star who can dominate both the popular and critics’ categories with ease, while Kareena’s dual nods underline the sharpness of her second act. Even the debut categories, so often a playground for nepotistic placeholders, have been forced into a reckoning: yes, you still have Pashmina Roshan and Anjini Dhawan, but the real excitement lies with performers like Sparsh Shrivastava, Nitanshi Goel, and Pratibha Ranta, who signal that fresh talent is being noticed for substance.

Ekta Kapoor’s Quiet Coup

And then there’s Ekta Kapoor.

For years, her name has been shorthand for soap operas, masala cinema, and sheer quantity over quality. This year, she quietly walks away with 13 nominations across three very different films: The Buckingham Murders, Crew, and Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2. It is a spread that covers the prestige lane (Hansal Mehta’s crime noir), the experimental (Dibakar Banerjee’s meta-sequel), and the mainstream female ensemble (Crew). It is also a reminder that while Yash Raj and Dharma are still obsessed with tentpoles, Kapoor has begun consolidating influence in the mid-budget space—and Filmfare is now giving her a seat at the table.

The Snubs and the Surprises

Of course, no awards season is complete without its snubs and head-scratchers.

Animal, one of the most polarising and discussed films of the year, has been virtually erased. Perhaps the Academy couldn’t bring itself to reward a film so drenched in its own violence and machismo. Fighter finds Hrithik Roshan in the Best Actor line-up, but the film itself is absent from the major categories, a sign that scale alone doesn’t guarantee prestige. Even Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, designed as a summer blockbuster, has to settle for action choreography.

On the positive side, Sparsh Shrivastava’s Critics’ Best Actor nomination for Laapataa Ladies is a genuine delight. An indie-honed performer from Jamtara, now standing shoulder to shoulder with Abhishek Bachchan and Rajkummar Rao—this is the kind of disruption Filmfare needs more of.

And then there’s the underdog story of the season: Lakshya bagging a nomination for Kill. It’s not just a win for the film—which has racked up a surprising number of nods across categories—but for Lakshya himself. Since the release of Ba**ds of Bollywood, he's being hailed as one of the industry's most exciting actors. Now, standing shoulder to shoulder with established heavyweights, he’s proving he can play with the big boys—and steal the spotlight while doing it

Taken together, the 2025 Filmfare nominations are a snapshot of a Hindi film industry in transition. They show an awards ecosystem trying to balance star power with substance, spectacle with storytelling, and legacy with genuine newness. They reveal an academy cautious about rewarding empty bigness, but still unwilling to entirely sever ties with it. And above all, they show that in its 70th year, Filmfare has finally been forced to take the mid-budget, socially conscious, female-driven film seriously—not as an exception, but as the main event.

Here are all the nominations this year.

BEST FILM

Article 370

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3

Kill

Laapataa Ladies

Stree 2

BEST DIRECTOR

Aditya Suhas Jambhale (Article 370)

Amar Kaushik (Stree 2)

Anees Bazmee (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)

Kiran Rao (Laapataa Ladies)

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat (Kill)

CRITICS' AWARD FOR BEST FILM

I Want to Talk (Shoojit Sircar)

Laapataa Ladies (Kiran Rao)

Maidaan (Amit Ravindernath Sharma)

Merry Christmas (Sriram Raghavan)

The Buckingham Murders (Hansal Mehta)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (MALE)

Abhishek Bachchan (I Want to Talk)

Ajay Devgn (Maidaan)

Akshay Kumar (Sarfira)

Hrithik Roshan (Fighter)

Kartik Aaryan (Chandu Champion)

Rajkummar Rao (Stree 2)

CRITICS' AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (MALE)

Abhishek Bachchan (I Want to Talk)

Pratik Gandhi (Madgaon Express)

Rajkummar Rao (Srikanth)

Randeep Hooda (Swatantrya Veer Savarkar)

Sparsh Shrivastava (Laapataa Ladies)

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE (FEMALE)

Alia Bhatt (Jigra)

Kareena Kapoor Khan (Crew)

Kriti Sanon (Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya)

Shraddha Kapoor (Stree 2)

Tabu (Crew)

Yami Gautam (Article 370)

CRITICS' AWARD FOR BEST ACTOR (FEMALE)

Alia Bhatt (Jigra)

Kareena Kapoor Khan (The Buckingham Murders)

Nitanshi Goel (Laapataa Ladies)

Pratibha Ranta (Laapataa Ladies)

Vidya Balan (Do Aur Do Pyaar)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (MALE)

Pankaj Tripathi (Stree 2)

Paresh Rawal (Sarfira)

R Madhavan (Shaitaan)

Raghav Juyal (Kill)

Ravi Kishan (Laapataa Ladies)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE (FEMALE)

Ahilya Bamroo (I Want to Talk)

Chhaya Kadam (Laapataa Ladies)

Janki Bodiwala (Shaitaan)

Madhuri Dixit (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)

Priyamani (Article 370)

BEST PLAYBACK SINGER (MALE)

Arijit Singh ("Sajni"– Laapataa Ladies)

Javed Ali ("Mirza" – Maidaan)

Karan Aujla ("Tauba Tauba" – Bad Newz)

Pawan Singh ("Aayi Nai" – Stree 2)

Sonu Nigam ("Mere Dholna" – Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)

Best playback singer (female)

Anumita Nadesan (Tenu Sang Rakhna – Jigra)

Madhubanti Bagchi (Aaj Ki Raat – Stree 2)

Rekha Bhardwaj (Nikat – Kill)

Shilpa Rao (Ishq Jaisa Kuch – Fighter)

Shreya Ghoshal (Dheeme Dheeme – Laapataa Ladies)

BEST STORY

Aakash Kaushik (Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3)

Aditya Dhar and Monal Thaakar (Article 370)

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat (Kill)

Niren Bhatt (Stree 2)

Prateek Vats, Shubham and Dibakar Banerjee (Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2)

BEST SCREENPLAY

Aditya Dhar, Aditya Suhas Jambhale, Monal Thaakar and Arjun Dhawan (Article 370)

Niren Bhatt (Stree 2)

Sneha Desai (Laapataa Ladies)

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat (Kill)

Kunal Kemmu (Madgaon Express)

BEST DIALOGUE

Niren Bhatt (Stree 2)

Ritesh Shah (Maidaan)

Sneha Desai (Laapataa Ladies)

Ritesh Shah (I Want to Talk)

Kunal Kemmu (Madgaon Express)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Ritesh Shah (I Want to Talk)

Saiwyn Quadras, Amit Ravindranath Sharma, Aman Rai, Atul Shahi (Maidaan)

Sriram Raghavan, Arjit Biswas, Pooja Ladha Surti, Anukriti Pandey (Merry Christmas)

Aamil Keeyan Khan (Shaitaan)

Jagdeep Siddhu, Sumit Purohit (Srikanth)

BEST BACKGROUND SCORE

A R Rahman (Maidaan)

Daniel B. George (Merry Christmas)

Ketan Sodha (The Buckingham Murders)

Ketan Sodha (Kill)

Ram Sampath (Laapataa Ladies)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Avik Mukhopadhayay (I Want to Talk)

Emma Dalesman (The Buckingham Murders)

Rafey Mehmood (Kill)

Tushar Kanti Ray (Maidaan)

Vikash Nowlakha (Laapataa Ladies)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Mayur Sharma (Kill)

Mayur Sharma (Merry Christmas)

Rajnish Hedao (Chandu Champion)

Tiya Tejpal (Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2)

Vikram Singh (Laapataa Ladies)

BEST COSTUME

Darshan Jalan (Laapataa Ladies)

Kirti Kolwankar and Maria Tharakan (Maidaan)

Manisha Melwani, Chandini Whabi, Meagan Concessio and Abhilasha Devnani Baweja (Crew)

Rohit Chaturvedi (Chandu Champion)

Veera Kapur Ee (Article 370)

BEST SOUND DESIGN

Ayush Ahuja (Laapataa Ladies)

Mandar Kulkarni (The Buckingham Murders)

Nihar Ranjan Samal (Maidaan)

Subash Sahoo (Kill)

Tanmay Bhattacherjee (Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2)

BEST ACTION

Craig Macrae & Parvez Shaikh (Bade Miyan Chote Miyan)

R P Yadav and Robert Miller (Maidaan)

Seayoung Oh and Parvez Shaikh (Kill)

Seayoung Oh, Parvez Shaikh and Sunil Rodrigues (Fighter)

Vikram Dahiya (Jigra)

BEST VFX

Digital Domain (Stree 2)

Lavan and Kushan (Digital Turbo Media) and Ashutosh Pandey (Reflections Pictures) (Kill)

Redefine (Munjya)

Redefine (Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya)

Redefine (Maidaan)

BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Bosco–Caesar ("Tauba Tauba" – Bad Newz)

Shaik Jani Basha ("Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya" – Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya)

Vijay Ganguly ("Aaj Ki Raat" – Stree 2)

BEST DEBUT - MALE

Abhinav Singh (Love Sex Aur Dhoka 2)

Guru Randhawa (Kuch Khattaa Ho Jaay)

Jibraan Khan (Ishq Vishk Rebound)

Kshitij Chauhan (Vedaa)

Lakshya Lalwani (Kill)

Sparsh Shrivastava (Laapataa Ladies)

BEST DEBUT - FEMALE

Ahilya Bamroo (I Want to Talk)

Anjini Dhawan (Binny and Family)

Dhvani Bhanushali (Kahan Shuru Kahan Khatam)

Nitanshi Goel (Laapataa Ladies)

Pashmina Roshan (Ishq Vishk Rebound)

Pratibha Ranta (Laapataa Ladies)