Chetak Screen Awards Nominations 2026: As Indian cinema reaches new heights, critics call Aditya Dhar’s Dhurandhar the revival of Bollywood, ambition and scale continue to soar. With this new era in cinema, the Indian Express Group is back with The Chetak Screen Awards, set to return on April 5 with a refreshed format and a star-studded evening celebrating the finest work from 2025.

Leading the nominations this year is Aditya Dhar’s espionage thriller Dhurandhar, a major box-office success that secured an impressive 24 nominations. Close behind is Mohit Suri’s romantic musical saga Saiyaara with 17 nods, followed by Neeraj Ghaywan’s emotionally resonant film Homebound, which has earned 15 nominations.

With nominations spread across 31 categories, the awards aim to recognise artists and storytellers who have shaped contemporary Hindi cinema over the past year. Organised by The Indian Express Group, the ceremony brings together editorial credibility, cultural legacy and strong digital reach, while remaining rooted in a journalism-first approach that emphasises fairness and merit.

The winners will be selected by the Screen Academy, an independent body comprising more than 50 respected filmmakers, artists and cultural voices.

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Chetak Screen Awards: Scoring and nomination process

To ensure transparency and consistency in the selection process, Priya Jaikumar, Professor and Chair of Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Southern California’s USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, designed a detailed scoring rubric that Academy members will follow when evaluating the nominees.

The evaluation process saw an impressive participation rate, with more than 95 per cent of the Academy taking part in the voting. On average, around 38–40 members assessed each category, making the selection process both robust and broadly representative.

To maintain fairness and neutrality, the final scores were calculated using the trimmed mean, or Olympic-style, scoring method. After removing the highest and lowest scores, roughly 38–40 valid evaluations were considered for most categories, ensuring a balanced and credible outcome.

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Chetak Screen Awards 2026: Check complete list of nominees here 

Best Action

120 Bahadur – Amritpal Singh, Marek Svitek

Chhaava – Parvez Shaikh

Deva – Supreme Sundar, Abbas Ali Moghul, Anl Arasu, Vikram Dahiya, Parvez Shaikh

Dhurandhar – Aejaz Gulab, Sea Young Oh, Yannick Ben, Ramazan Bulut

Jaat – Ram Laxman, V Venkat, Peter Hein, Anl Arasu

Best Actor (Female)

Triptii Dimri – Dhadak 2

Yami Gautam Dhar – Haq

Sonal Madhushankar – Humans in the Loop

Konkona Sen Sharma – Metro… In Dino

Monika Panwar – Nishaanchi

Radhika Apte – Sister Midnight

Kriti Sanon – Tere Ishk Mein

Best Actor (Female) – OTT Film

Fatima Sana Shaikh – Aap Jaisa Koi

Sanya Malhotra – Mrs

Radhika Apte – Saali Mohabbat

Saba Azad – Songs of Paradise

Mia Maelzer – Stolen

The Great Shamsuddin Family – Farida Jalal

Shreya Chaudhry – The Mehta Boys

Best Actor (Male)

Vicky Kaushal – Chhaava

Siddhant Chaturvedi – Dhadak 2

Ranveer Singh – Dhurandhar

Vishal Jethwa – Homebound

Ishaan Khatter – Homebound

Manoj Bajpayee – Jugnuma: The Fable

Adarsh Gourav – Superboys Of Malegaon

Best Actor (Male) – OTT film

Manoj Bajpayee – Inspector Zende

Abhishek Bachchan – Kaalidhar Laapata

Nawazuddin Siddiqui – Raat Akeli Hai The Bansal Murders

Abhishek Banerjee – Stolen

Shubham Vardhan – Stolen

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)

Divya Dutta – Chhaava

Sheeba Chadha – Haq

Shalini Vatsa – Homebound

Dolly Ahluwalia – Sitaare Zameen Par

Manjiri Pupala – Superboys Of Malegaon

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)

Akshaye Khanna – Dhurandhar

Rakesh Bedi – Dhurandhar

Naseeruddin Shah – Gustaakh Ishq

Saurabh Shukla – Jolly LLB 3

Deepak Dobriyal – Jugnuma: The Fable

Best Background Score

Chhaava – AR Rahman

Dhurandhar – Shashwat Sachdev

Haq – Sandeep Chowta

Homebound – Naren Chandavarkar, Benedict Taylor

Saiyaara – John Stewart Eduri

Best Choreography

Azaad – Ui Amma – Bosco Leslie Martis

Deva – Bhasad Macha – Bosco Leslie Martis

Dhurandhar – Shararat – Vijay Ganguly

Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari – Panwadi Song – Ganesh Acharya

Thamma – Dilbar Ki Aankhon Ka – Vijay Ganguly

Best Cinematography

Dhurandhar – Vikash Nowlakha

Homebound – Pratik Shah

Humans in the Loop – Monica Tiwari, Harshit Saini, Gunjan Jaywant

Jugnuma: The Fable – Sunil Ramkrishna Borkar

Superboys of Malegaon – Swapnil. S. Sonawane (ISC)

Best Costume

Chhaava – Sheetal Iqbal Sharma

Dhurandhar – Smriti Chauhan

Gustaakh Ishq – Manish Malhotra, Shivank Vikram Kapoor

Homebound – Rohit Chaturvedi

Superboys of Malegaon – Bhawna Sharma

Best Dialogue

Dhurandhar – Aditya Dhar

Haq – Reshu Nath

Homebound – Neeraj Ghaywan, Varun Grover, Shreedhar Dubey

Jolly LLB 3 – Subhash Kapoor

Superboys of Malegaon – Varun Grover, Shoaib Zulfi Nazeer

Best Director

Laxman Ramchandra Utekar – Chhaava

Aditya Dhar – Dhurandhar

Suparn S Varma – Haq

Neeraj Ghaywan – Homebound

Raam Reddy — Jugnuma: The Fable

Mohit Suri – Saiyaara

Reema Kagti – Superboys Of Malegaon

Best Director – OTT film

Arati Kadav – Mrs

Honey Trehan – Raat Akeli Hai – The Bansal Murders

Karan Tejpal – Stolen

Anusha Rizvi – The Great Shamsuddin Family

Boman Irani – The Mehta Boys

Best Editing

Dhurandhar – Shivkumar V. Panicker

Haq – Ninad Khanolkar

Homebound – Nitin Baid

Saiyaara – Devendra Murdeshwar, Rohit Makwana

Superboys of Malegaon – Anand Subaya

Best Film

Dhadak 2 – Karan Johar, Umesh Kumar Bhansal, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, Meenu Aroraa, Somen Mishra, Pragati Deshmukh, Marijke DeSouza

Dhurandhar – Jyoti Deshpande, Lokesh Dhar, Aditya Dhar

Haq – Vineet Jain, Vishal Gurnani, Harman Baweja, Juhi Parekh Mehta, Amrita Pandey, Suparn S Varma, Rowena Baweja, Sandeep Singh

Homebound – Karan Johar, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, Somen Mishra, Marijke DeSouza, Melita Toscan Du Plantier

Saiyaara – Akshaye Widhani

Sitaare Zameen Par – Aamir Khan, Aparna Purohit

Superboys Of Malegaon – Zoya Akhtar (Producer), Reema Kagti (Producer), Ritesh Sidhwani (Producer), Farhan Akhtar (Producer), Angad Dev Singh (Co-Producer), Kassim Jagmagia (Co-Producer), Vishal Ramchandani (Co-Producer)

Chhaava – Dinesh Vijan

Best Film for Gender Sensitivity

Dhadak 2 – Karan Johar, Umesh Kumar Bhansal, Adar Poonawalla, Apoorva Mehta, Meenu Aroraa,  Somen Mishra, Pragati Deshmukh, Marijke DeSouza

Haq – Vineet Jain, Vishal Gurnani, Harman Baweja, Juhi Parekh Mehta, Amrita Pandey, Suparn S Varma, Rowena Baweja, Sandeep Singh

Humans in the Loop – Mathivanan Rajendran, Sarabhi Ravichandran, Shilpa Kumar, Aranya Sahay

Mrs – Jyoti Deshpande, Harman Baweja, Pammi Baweja, Smitha Baliga

The Great Shamsuddin Family – Alok Jain, Ajit Andhare, Mahmood Farooqui

Best Film Writing (Story & Screenplay)

Dhurandhar – Aditya Dhar

Haq – Reshu Nath

Homebound – Basharat Peer, Neeraj Ghaywan, Sumit Roy

Humans in the Loop – Aranya Sahay

Superboys of Malegaon – Varun Grover

Best Hairstyling & Make-Up

Chhaava – Shrikant Desai

Dhurandhar – Preetisheel Singh D’souza

Emergency – Elizabeth Lawson Zeiss, Dhananjay M. Prajapat

Homebound – Khyati Malhotra

Superboys of Malegaon – Tarannum Khan, Avan Contractor, Dianne Commissariat

Best Lyrics

Dhurandhar – Gehra Hua – Irshad Kamil

Gustaakh Ishq – Ul Julool Ishq – Gulzar

Homebound – Yaar Mere – Varun Grover

Saiyaara – Saiyaara Title Track – Irshad Kamil

Superboys of Malegaon – Bande – Javed Akhtar

Best OTT Film

Mrs – Jyoti Deshpande, Harman Baweja, Pammi Baweja, Smitha Baliga

Raat Akeli Hai – The Bansal Murders – Ronnie Screwvala, Honey Trehan, Abhishek Chaubey

Stolen – Gaurav Dhingra

The Great Shamsuddin Family – Alok Jain, Ajit Andhare, Mahmood Farooqui

The Mehta Boys – Boman Irani, Danesh Irani, Shujaat Saudagar, Vikesh Bhutani

Best Playback Singer (Female)

Dhurandhar – Shararat – Jasmine Sandlas, Madhubanti Bagchi

Metro… In Dino – Qayde Se – Shreya Ghosal

Saiyaara – Saiyaara Title Track – Shreya Ghosal

Saiyaara – Barbaad – Shilpa Rao

Saiyaara – Humsafar – Parampara Tandon

Best Playback Singer (Male)

Dhurandhar – Dhurandhar Title Track – Hanumankind, Sudhir Yaduvanshi, Shashwat Sachdev, Mohd. Sadiq

Dhurandhar – Gehra Hua – Arijit Singh, Shashwat Sachdev, Armaan Khan

Saiyaara – Saiyaara Title Track – Faheem Abdullah

Saiyaara – Dhun – Arijit Singh

Saiyaara – Barbaad – Jubin Nautiyal

Best Production Design

Chhaava – Subrata Chakraborty, Amit Ray

Dhurandhar – Saini S. Johray

Gustaakh Ishq – Madhumita Sen, Ajay Sharma (EASEEL)

Homebound – Khyatee Kanchan

Superboys of Malegaon – Sally White

Haq – Sonam Singh, Abhijit Gaonkar (Megamind Studio)

Kesari Chapter 2 – Rita Ghosh

Best Script – OTT film

Mrs – Harman Baweja, Anu Singh Choudhary, Arati Kadav

Raat Akeli Hai – The Bansal Murders – Smita Singh

Songs of Paradise – Danish Renzu, Sunayana Kachroo, Niranjan Iyengar

Stolen – Karan Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra, Swapnil Salkar (AGADBUMB)

The Mehta Boys – Alexander Dinelaris, Boman Irani

Best Song

Dhurandhar – Dhurandhar Title Track – Shashwat Sachdev, Charanjit Ahuja

Dhurandhar – Gehra Hua – Shashwat Sachdev

Saiyaara – Saiyaara Title Track – Tanishk Bagchi, Faheem Abdullah, Arslan Nizami

Saiyaara – Barbaad – The Rish

Saiyaara – Humsafar – Sachet-Parampara

Best Sound Design

Chhaava – Bishwadeep Chatterjee

Dhurandhar – Bishwadeep Chatterjee

Homebound – Sanjay Maurya, Allwin Rego

Humans in the Loop -Kalhan Raina

Saiyaara – Ganesh Gangadharan (YRF Studios)

Best Special Effects

120 Bahadur – NOLABEL, Frame X VFX Studio, Snow Team, Vishal Tyagi, Manish Tyagi

Chhaava – Somesh Samit Ghosh, Gary Brown, Simon Frame

Dhurandhar – Envision VFX, Philm CGI, Resonance Digital, Dhruti Ranjan Sahoo, Vishal Tyagi, Raza Mohammed Shaikh, Gagan Kholi

Jugnuma: The Fable – Varun Ramanna

Thamma – James Austin, Somesh Ghosh, Kunal Jagdish Sodha

Breakthrough Debut Director

Shazia Iqbal – Dhadak 2

Dibakar Das Roy – Dilli Dark

Aranya Sahay – Humans in the Loop

Karan Singh Tyagi – Kesari Chapter 2

Karan Kandhari – Sister Midnight

Breakthrough New Actor (Female)

Rasha Thadani – Azaad

Sara Arjun – Dhurandhar

Ridhima Singh – Humans in the Loop

Aneet Padda – Saiyaara

Shubhangi Dutt – Tanvi the Great

Breakthrough New Actor (Male)

Mohit Agarwal – Agra

Aaman Devgan – Azaad

Samuel Abiola Robinson – Dilli Dark

Aaishvary Thackeray – Nishaanchi

Ahaan Panday – Saiyaara