Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie

The Filmfare Awards
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...

are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films

Bollywood

Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The yearly awards started in 1953. Movie awards were first given by popular vote. Many complained that films of artistic merit rather than commercial appeal were being overlooked, hence a new award category was added, the Critics Award for Best Movie.

Winner and Nominees

In the list below, each individual entry shows the winning title, followed by the director of the film.

1970s

1971 Uski Roti - Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Started his career with Uski Roti , which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win...

1972 Ashadh Ka Ek Din
Ashadh Ka Ek Din
Ashadh Ka Ek Din is a debut Hindi play by Mohan Rakesh in 1958 and is considered the first Modern Hindi play. The play received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for best play in 1959 and has been staged by several prominent directors to critical acclaim...

- Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Started his career with Uski Roti , which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win...

1973 Maya Darpan
Maya Darpan
Maya Darpan is an Indian Hindi film directed by Kumar Shahani. The film stars Aditi and Anil Pandya.-External links:*...

- Kumar Shahani
Kumar Shahani
Kumar Shahani is a noted Indian Film director, born in Larkana, Sindh , on 7 December 1940. After the Partition of India his family shifted to the city of Bombay...

1974 Duvidha
Duvidha
Duvidha is a 1973 Bollywood ghost movie directed by Mani Kaul. The film stars Ravi Menon and Raisa Padamsee. The film was critically acclaimed and won the director National Film Award for Best Direction and Critics Award for Best film at the 1974 Filmfare Awards.The film is based on a story by...

- Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Started his career with Uski Roti , which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win...

1975 Rajnigandha
Rajnigandha
Rajnigandha is a Hindi movie directed by Basu Chatterjee and released in 1974. It is based on story "Yehi Sach Hai" by noted Hindi writer Manu Bhandari.The movie stars Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Dinesh Thakur in the lead...

- Basu Chatterjee
Basu Chatterjee
Basu Chatterjee is an Indian film director. His films are very similar to those of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Like Mukherjee, he built his plots on middle-class lives.He was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India....

1976 Aandhi
Aandhi
Aandhi is a 1975 Indian movie supposedly based on then-prime minister Indira Gandhi's life, but in reality, it was inspired by Tarkeshwari Sinha, apart from Indira Gandhi. It was directed by Gulzar...

- Gulzar
Gulzar (lyricist)
Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...

1977 Mrigayaa
Mrigayaa
Mrigayaa is an Indian film in Hindi, directed by Mrinal Sen and produced by Kishor Bagri was released in 1976. Kishor currently is working with Balaji Telefilms.The film stars Mithun Chakraborty in his debut film which also won him the prestigious National Film Award for Best Actor...

- Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen
Mrinal Sen is a Bengali Indian filmmaker. He was born on 14 May 1923, in the town of Faridpur, now in Bangladesh in a Hindu family. After finishing his high school there, he left home to come to Calcutta as a student and studied physics at the well-known Scottish Church College and at the...

1978 Shatranj Ke Khiladi
Shatranj Ke Khiladi
The Chess Players is a genre painting of 1876 by American artist Thomas Eakins . It is a small oil on wood panel depicting Eakins' father Benjamin observing a chess match. The two players are Bertrand Gardel , an elderly French teacher, and the somewhat younger George Holmes, a painter...

- Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was an Indian Bengali filmmaker. He is regarded as one of the greatest auteurs of 20th century cinema. Ray was born in the city of Kolkata into a Bengali family prominent in the world of arts and literature...

1979 Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan
Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan
Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan is a 1978 Hindi Language film, directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza and starring Dilip Dhawan, Anjali Paigankar, Sriram Lagoo and Om Puri.-Plot:...

- Saeed Akhtar Mirza
Saeed Akhtar Mirza
Saeed Akhtar Mirza is an Indian screenwriter and director in Hindi films and television. He is the maker of important Parallel cinema films like Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! , Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai , Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro and Naseem , which won two National Film Awards in 1996.He is...

1980s

1980 Jeena Yahan
Jeena Yahan
Jeena Yahan is a 1979 Bollywood film directed by Basu Chatterjee.Produced by N.P Ali/Jamu Pictures-Cast:*Shekhar Kapur*Shabana Azmi*Dina Pathak*Sunder*Purohit*Devendra Khandelwal *Kiran Vairale*V.K. Pathak...

- Basu Chatterjee
Basu Chatterjee
Basu Chatterjee is an Indian film director. His films are very similar to those of Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Like Mukherjee, he built his plots on middle-class lives.He was born in Ajmer, Rajasthan, India....

1981 Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai
Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai, , is an 1980 Bollywood film directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza based on his own story...

- Saeed Akhtar Mirza
Saeed Akhtar Mirza
Saeed Akhtar Mirza is an Indian screenwriter and director in Hindi films and television. He is the maker of important Parallel cinema films like Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! , Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai , Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro and Naseem , which won two National Film Awards in 1996.He is...

1982 Aadharshila
Aadharshila
Aadharshila is a 1982 Hindi film written, produced and directed by Ashok Ahuja, and starring Naseeruddin Shah and Anita Kanwar....

- Ashok Ahuja

1983 Masoom
Masoom
Masoom is a 1983 Indian film and Shekhar Kapur's first directorial venture. The critically acclaimed film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Tanuja, Supriya Pathak and Saeed Jaffrey, as well as child actors Jugal Hansraj, Aradhana and Urmila Matondkar. The screenplay and dialogues were...

- Shekhar Kapoor

1984 Sookha - M.S. Sathyu

1985 Damul
Damul
Damul is a 1985 Hindi film directed by Prakash Jha, based on a story by Shaiwal, a native of Gaya district of Bihar. , and Annu Kapoor, Sreela Mazumdar, Manohar Singh, Deepti Naval, Ranjan Kamath and Pyare Mohan Sahay in lead roles.-Plot:The story is about a bonded labourer who is forced to steal...

- Prakash Jha
Prakash Jha
Prakash Jha is an Indian film producer-director-screenwriter, who is most known for his political and socio-political films such as Damul , Mrityudand , Gangaajal , Apaharan and multistarrer hit movie Raajneeti...

1986 Aghaat - Govind Nihalani
Govind Nihalani
Govind Nihalani is an Indian director, cinematographer, and also a screenwriter and film producer. He has been directing Hindi films since the late seventies, and worked in the television medium.- Biography :...

1987 no award

1988 no award

1989 Om-Dar-Ba-Dar
Om-Dar-Ba-Dar
-Synopsis:Om-Dar-Ba-Dar is a portrait of life in a mythical small town. The film tells the story of a young boy called Om in the period of his carefree adolescence and its harsh disillusionments. The story starts like a comedy and ends like a thriller. Om has a rather strange family...

- Kamal Swaroop
Kamal Swaroop
Kamal Swaroop is a film, television and radio director and screenwriter. In 1974 he graduated from the Film and Television Institute and even his student works met with unusual international acclaim. He continued with postgraduate studies at the Institute. He assisted the director Richard...

1990s

1990 Khayal Gatha - Kumar Shahani
Kumar Shahani
Kumar Shahani is a noted Indian Film director, born in Larkana, Sindh , on 7 December 1940. After the Partition of India his family shifted to the city of Bombay...

1991 Kasba - Kumar Shahani
Kumar Shahani
Kumar Shahani is a noted Indian Film director, born in Larkana, Sindh , on 7 December 1940. After the Partition of India his family shifted to the city of Bombay...

1992 Diksha
Diksha (film)
Diksha is 1991 Hindi film directed by Arun Kaul and his only feature. The film is based on a novella by eminent Kannada writer U. R...

- Arun Kaul
Arun Kaul
Arun Kaul was a noted Kashmiri film maker and screenwriter. His film Diksha , won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie for the year 1992 .He was the screenplay assistant to veteran filmmaker Gulzar, for the films Ijaazat and Lekin....

1993 Idiot
Idiot (1992 film)
Idiot is a Hindi film based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Idiot. It was directed by Mani Kaul and starred Shahrukh Khan and Ayub Khan-Din. The film debuted at the New York Film Festival on 8 October 1992, although it was originally made for television...

- Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul
Mani Kaul was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Started his career with Uski Roti , which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win...

1994 Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is a 1993 Indian Bollywood film directed by Kundan Shah, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, and Deepak Tijori. This is one of the rare mainstream Hindi movies in which the hero plays the role of a loser...

- Kundan Shah
Kundan Shah
Kundan Shah is an Indian film director and writer.He is most known for his comedy classic Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro and his 1985-1986, TV series Nukkad with Saeed Akhtar Mirza.-Biography:...

1995 Bandit Queen
Bandit Queen
Bandit Queen is a 1994 Indian film based upon the life of Phoolan Devi. It was directed by Shekhar Kapur and starred Seema Biswas as the title character. It was produced by Bobby Bedi's Kaleidoscope Entertainment.The Music was Composed by Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.- Plot :The film opens in the...

- Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kapur
Shekhar Kapur is an Indian film director and producer. A critically acclaimed director, he rose to popularity with the movie Bandit Queen...

1996 Bombay
Bombay (film)
Bombay is a critically acclaimed and national award-winning 1995 Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, with music composed by A. R. Rahman...

- Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...

1997 Khamoshi: The Musical
Khamoshi: The Musical
Khamoshi: The Musical is a critically acclaimed Indian Hindi film which was released on 9 August 1996. The film starred Nana Patekar, Manisha Koirala, Salman Khan, Seema Biswas and Helen, and marked Sanjay Leela Bhansali's directorial debut...

- Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India...

1998 Virasat
Virasat (1997 film)
Virasat is a Hindi musical drama film by Priyadarshan that was released in India in 1997. It starred Anil Kapoor, Tabu, Amrish Puri, Pooja Batra, Milind Gunaji and Govind Namdeo. The story was by Kamal Hassan and Anu Malik was the music composer...

- Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...

1999 Satya
Satya (film)
Satya is a 1998 Hindi crime film directed by Ram Gopal Varma with a screenplay by Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla. It stars J. D. Chakravarthy, Manoj Bajpai, Urmila Matondkar and Shefali Shah...

- Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma
Ram Gopal Varma is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer...

2000s

2000 Sarfarosh
Sarfarosh
Sarfarosh was a critically and commercially successful action film, released in 1999. It was directed by John Matthew Matthan and starred Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre and Naseeruddin Shah. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992...

- John Matthew Matthan
John Matthew Matthan
- Early life :John started his career as an assistant director on the epic movie Gandhi, directed by Sir Richard Attenborough. Govind Nihlani was also working on the same film. John went on to assist Govind Nihlani on several of his films before starting out on his own as an ad-film maker...

2001 Halo
Halo (1996 film)
Halo is a 1996 Indian film directed by Santosh Sivan. It tells the story of Sasha who is searching for her lost puppy in the streets of Mumbai and the variety of people that she meets.-Awards:...

- Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan is an Indian cinematographer, film director, and producer who has worked in Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil, and Hindi cinema....

2002 Dil Chahta Hai
Dil Chahta Hai
Dil Chahta Hai is a 2001 Indian film starring Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Preity Zinta, Sonali Kulkarni, and Dimple Kapadia...

- Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar
Farhan Akhtar is an Indian filmmaker, script writer, actor, playback singer, lyricist, film producer in Hindi cinema and a television host.His directorial debut Dil Chahta Hai won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi...

2003 The Legend of Bhagat Singh
The Legend of Bhagat Singh
The Legend of Bhagat Singh is a 2002 Hindi historic biographical film about Bhagat Singh, a freedom fighter who fought for Indian independence. It was directed by Rajkumar Santoshi and starred Ajay Devgan, Sushant Singh, and Ian Davies...

- Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi
Rajkumar Santoshi is a Filmfare award-winning Indian film director and producer of Hindi films. He is the son of producer-director P.L. Santoshi.-Career:...

2004 Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.
Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. is a 2003 Indian comedy directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The story involves protagonist Munna Bhai , a goon, going to medical school. He is helped by his sidekick, Circuit . It is the first film in the popular Munna Bhai series...

- Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani is a National Award and Filmfare Award winning Indian director, screenwriter and film editor of Hindi films, best known for the films Munna Bhai MBBS , Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots , considered the highest-grossing Hindi film by distributor-share.-Early life and...

2005 Dev
Dev (film)
Dev is a 2004 Hindi movie, directed by Govind Nihalani-Plot:Joint Commissioner of Police Dev Pratap Singh, a duty-bound, self-righteous officer, and Special Commissioner Tejinder Khosla, the balancing force between the political interests of Chief Minister Bhandarker and Dev's commitment to the...

- Govind Nihalani
Govind Nihalani
Govind Nihalani is an Indian director, cinematographer, and also a screenwriter and film producer. He has been directing Hindi films since the late seventies, and worked in the television medium.- Biography :...

and Yuva
Yuva
Yuva , originally titled Howrah Bridge is a feature film directed by Indian director Mani Ratnam and released in 2004. Simultaneously made in Hindi and Tamil , the prime objective of the movie was to motivate educated Indian youths to enter politics.The film tells the stories of three young men...

- Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam
Mani Ratnam is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He made his directorial debut with the Kannada film Pallavi Anu Pallavi starring Anil Kapoor in 1983...

2006 Black - Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Sanjay Leela Bhansali is an Indian film director. He is an alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India...

2007 Lage Raho Munna Bhai
Lage Raho Munna Bhai
Lage Raho Munna Bhai is a 2006 Indian musical comedy film directed by Rajkumar Hirani and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. It is the second film in the popular Munna Bhai series of Bollywood. Sanjay Dutt stars in this film as Munna Bhai, a Mumbai underworld don, who begins to see the spirit of...

- Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani
Rajkumar Hirani is a National Award and Filmfare Award winning Indian director, screenwriter and film editor of Hindi films, best known for the films Munna Bhai MBBS , Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots , considered the highest-grossing Hindi film by distributor-share.-Early life and...

2008 Chak De! India - Shimit Amin
Shimit Amin
Shimit Amin is an Indian film director and editor. He is best known for the award winning film Chak De! India .Amin was born in Uganda but grew up in Florida, in the United States.He entered the film industry straight out of college, working primarily on independent films in Los Angeles.He is...

2009 Mumbai Meri Jaan - Nishikanth Kamath

2010s

2010 Firaaq
Firaaq
Firaaq is a 2008 Hindi political thriller film set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat, India, and looks at the aftermath in terms of the effects on the lives of everyday people. It claims to be based on "a thousand true stories". Firaaq means both separation and quest in Urdu...

- Nandita Das
Nandita Das
Nandita Das is an award-winning Indian film actress and director. As an actress, she is known for her performances in Fire , Earth , Bawandar , Kannathil Muthamittal and Aamaar Bhuvan . As a director, she is known for her directorial debut Firaaq , which has won a number of national and...