Filmfare Awards 2021: Bollywood actors Irrfan Khan, Taapsee Pannu win big

While Khan won the Best Actor Award posthumously for director Homi Adjania’s ‘Angrezi Medium’ (pictured) and was honoured with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Pannu won Best Actress for ‘Thappad’. Her movie also swept up all the major awards, including Best Film for ‘Thappad’, a searing family drama on marital abuse by director Anubhav Sinha.

Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana handed the award to Khan’s son Babil, who left a lasting impression on the actor. Khurrana wrote a personal eulogy as a nod to Khan and his son, an actor hopeful. “This is somewhere in Bandra [referring to a mural dedicated to Khan]. But he is somewhere resting in peace. Celebrating his double win. Forever Irfan! Best Actor (Male) and the lifetime achievement award! I had the honour of presenting this Filmfare award to Babil ... Met this beautiful boy for the first time. Would see him do well in future. We artists are unique species. We have our vulnerabilities and imaginations and theories. WE rely on observations and experiences. We live and die a thousand deaths on the celluloid or stage. But the power of those performances make us immortal,” he wrote.

Babil also shared snapshots of the night that celebrated the talent of his revered father, who battled cancer and died on April 29,2020. He shared pictures with his mother Sutapa Sikdar and actor Jaideep Ahlawat of ‘Pataal Lok’ fame.

Khan wasn’t the only star of the night. Pannu shared a short video clip of her going up on stage to collect her award from Bollywood’s maverick director Anurag Basu for her brilliant turn as an empowered housewife who takes a bold step when her husband slaps her at a party in ‘Thappad’ (pictured).

Dressed in a glittering silver gown with a high slit, Pannu also shared a picture of her black lady statuette resting on her shelf. “Respect and happiness. Thank you Amrita #Humbled #Thappad #FilmfareAwards,” wrote Pannu in the caption of the post.

Another big winner for the night was Amitabh Bachchan’s satire ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, which won six awards that evening. This critically-applauded film, also starring Khurrana, premiered directly on Amazon Prime Video and skipped the traditional theatrical release. Legendary actor Bachchan, who played a cranky old landlord in this comedy, won the Best Actor (critics) award.

Actress Tillotama Shome also experienced awards glory as she took home the Best Actress (critics) award for ‘Sir’, a drama that explored the class divides in Mumbai. She plays a domestic help who forms a tenuous bond with her sensitive boss. The Best Actress in a Supporting Role award was handed to Farrokh Jaffar, for her witty turn in ‘Gulabo Sitabo’.

Bollywood director Om Raut also emerged a bigger winner for the night as he scooped up the Best Director award for his period epic ‘Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior’ starring Saif Ali Khan and Ajay Devgn.

Actor Saif Ali Khan also won the Best Supporting Actor for the same film.

Khan has another reason to celebrate. His co-star from ‘Jawaani Jaaneman’ Alaya F won the Best Debut Female (pictured).

Meanwhhile, the Best Debut director was awarded to Rajesh Krishnan for ‘Lootcase’

Late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s swan song ‘Dil Bechara’ also got some attention. Bollywood director and ace dance instructor Farah Khan won the Best Choreographer gong for the title track.

Filmfare Awards are held annually to celebrate the excellence in Hindi cinema. While this year’s awards ceremony was a muted affair due to the pandemic in Mumbai, stars like Pannu and Ahlawat set the stage on fire.